Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2021 Oct 27;7(3):46-51.
doi: 10.22551/2020.28.0703.10172. eCollection 2020.

A case report of COVID-19 associated pulmonary mucormycosis

Nariman Khan  1 , Christina G Gutierrez  2   3 , David Villafuerte Martinez  4 , Kevin C Proud  1   4   5
Affiliations
Case Reports

A case report of COVID-19 associated pulmonary mucormycosis

Nariman Khan et al. Arch Clin Cases. .

Abstract

Hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) are at risk for developing secondary fungal infections due to greater incidence of preexisting comorbidities and exposure to iatrogenic factors such as corticosteroid use. We present the case of a 44-year-old Hispanic female discovered unresponsive in her home that was found to have severe hyperglycemia with comorbid COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) associated pneumonia. The patient was intubated and treated with several broad-spectrum antibiotics, remdesivir, and corticosteroids but had little improvement in her clinical status. Bronchoscopy was performed and revealed multiple necrotic lesions in the lungs. Endobronchial biopsy and bronchoalveolar lavage samples revealed pauciseptated hyphae consistent with zygomycetes. The patient was treated with multiple antifungals including voriconazole, micafungin, and amphotericin B. However, despite maximal medical therapy, the patient perished. This case highlights that clinicians must carry a high degree of suspicion and a low threshold to begin treatment for Mucor in diabetics and other immunosuppressed patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; diabetes melitus; mucormycisis; remdesivir; thoracic CT.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Computer tomography of the chest, axial view: diffuse GGO (arrows) throughout both lung fields.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Computer tomography of the chest, sagittal view: approximately 2 cm cavitary lesion in right middle lobe
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Werthman-Ehrenreich A. Mucormycosis with orbital compartment syndrome in a patient with COVID-19. Am J Emerg Med. 2020 doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.09.032. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mohamed A, Rogers TR, Talento AF. COVID-19 associated invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: Diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. J Fungi (Basel) 2020;6(3):115. doi: 10.3390/jof6030115. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Koehler P, Cornely OA, Böttiger BW, et al. COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis. Mycoses. 2020;63(6):528–534. doi: 10.1111/myc.13096. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mehta S, Pandey A. Rhino-orbital mucormycosis associated with COVID-19. Cureus. 2020;12(9):e10726. doi: 10.7759/cureus.10726. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Placik DA, Wesley TL, Nathan WM. Bronchopleural fistula development in the setting of novel therapies for acute respiratory distress syndrome in SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. Radiol Case Rep. 2020;15(11):2378–2381. doi: 10.1016/j.radcr.2020.09.026. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources