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. 2025 May 4;17(5):e83479.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.83479. eCollection 2025 May.

A Tragic Tale of Mucormycosis and COVID-19: An Observational Study to Identify Predisposing Risk Factors and Outcomes in a Tertiary Care Centre in Central India

Vandana Pandey  1 , Jyotsna Kubre  1 , Tripti Vatsalya  1 , Kamal Ahirwar  1 , Shikha Mehrotra  1
Affiliations

A Tragic Tale of Mucormycosis and COVID-19: An Observational Study to Identify Predisposing Risk Factors and Outcomes in a Tertiary Care Centre in Central India

Vandana Pandey et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Objective The incidence of mucormycosis, an angioinvasive fungal infection, peaked in India affecting COVID-19 patients. The primary objective of our study was to identify the predisposing risk factors for its development in our country. The secondary objective of our study was to describe the factors affecting the anaesthetic management and the outcome of mucormycosis patients. Methods This was a retrospective observational hospital-based study. All the patients with post-COVID mucormycosis planned for surgical debridement in operation theatre were included. Patients with active COVID infection who tested positive by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, those with cerebral involvement and patients admitted for re-debridement surgeries were excluded from the study. Results About 86.6% of patients gave a prior history of COVID infection, while 21.1% did not have any prior history; 77% of patients were diagnosed cases of diabetes, 13% were newly diagnosed and 10% of patients were non-diabetics. About 62.2% of patients gave a positive history of hospitalization whereas 81.1% gave a positive history of use of steroids in some form or the other. Conclusions Among all the risk factors, history of COVID-19, presence of diabetes and use of steroids are the most important risk factors which contributed to the development of mucormycosis.

Keywords: covid; diabetes; mucorales; mucormycosis; steroids.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Gandhi Medical College, Institutional Ethics Committee, Registration No. ECR/1055/Inst/MP/2018 issued approval 69/IEC/2021. The institutional ethical committee approved the conduct of the study and directed the researcher to maintain strict confidentiality of the participants. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Selection of patients
Figure 2
Figure 2. Distribution of diabetes in mucormycosis patients
Figure 3
Figure 3. Distribution of comorbidities other than diabetes
CAD: Coronary heart disease; CKD: Chronic kidney disease; HEP-B: Hepatitis B; HTN: Hypertension; TB: Tuberculosis
Figure 4
Figure 4. Pathophysiology of mucormycosis in COVID
•↑- increase •↓- decrease COVID: Coronavirus disease; DKA: Diabetic ketoacidosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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