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. 2023 Jun;89(6):2770-2773.
doi: 10.1177/00031348211048841. Epub 2021 Nov 3.

Post-COVID-19 Intestinal and Mesenteric Mucormycosis

Niladri Banerjee  1 , Mahendra Lodha  1 , Prathyusha Kompally  1 , Siddhi Chawla  2
Affiliations

Post-COVID-19 Intestinal and Mesenteric Mucormycosis

Niladri Banerjee et al. Am Surg. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

A thirty-eight-year-old uncontrolled diabetic with a recent COVID-19 infection presented with extensive bowel ischemia and gangrene with a microscopic diagnosis of intestinal and mesenteric mucormycosis. Although there are a few reported cases of primary gastrointestinal mucormycosis, our case showing involvement of the intestine and/or mesentery, that too in a post-COVID patient, is quite uncommon. The immunosuppressive effect of the COVID-19 disease, uncontrolled diabetes, and the use of corticosteroids for the treatment of severe COVID are the most probable reasons for the emergence of severe opportunistic infections, both as a coinfection and as a sequalae to COVID.

Keywords: COVID-19; gastrointestinal; mucormycosis; opportunistic infections in COVID.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Multiplanar reformatted contrast-enhanced CT images of a 38-year-old female. (A) Computed tomography in lung window shows changes of previous COVID-19 infection with patchy areas of peripheral predominant ground-glass opacities in bilateral lung fields. (B) Axial (C) coronal images show dehiscent papery thin non-enhancing medial wall of cecum and ascending colon with air foci and fat stranding within the mesentery (red arrow) suggestive of gangrenous changes, thrombosis of ileocolic branch of superior mesenteric artery, hypo-enhancement of adjacent D2 and D3 segment of duodenum (white arrow), and rectosigmoid colon (yellow arrow). (D) Sagittal image shows an infarct in the inferior pole of right kidney (blue arrow).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Intraoperative image showing (A) gangrenous distal ileum (red arrow) ascending colon (yellow arrow) and mesenteric thickening and discoloration (black arrow) and (B) gangrenous cecum with greyish patches (blue arrow).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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