Lädrach, Claudia; Wartenberg, Martin; Zimmerli, Stefan; Anschuetz, Lukas; Bohlen, Stefan; Ebner, Julian; de Gouyon Matignon de Pontouraude, Claire M F; Caversaccio, Marco; Wagner, Franca (2024). Survival from Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis in SARS-CoV-2-Positive Diabetic Patients: Two Case Reports. Case reports in neurology, 16(1), pp. 89-98. Karger 10.1159/000538539
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INTRODUCTION
Rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is a rare angioinvasive fungal infection known to be associated with high morbidity and over 50% mortality. ROCM is becoming more common due to an increase in predisposing immunocompromising comorbidities as well as COVID-19.
CASE PRESENTATIONS
We report 2 cases - a 75-year-old woman with diabetes and a 39-year-old man with recurrent diabetic ketoacidosis. Both presented initially with acute sinonasal symptoms, were positive for SARS-CoV-2, and diagnosed with acute ROCM. Both underwent mutilating surgical therapy as well as high-dose amphotericin B treatment. With continued oral antifungal treatment, patient 1 showed stable symptoms despite radiographically increasing disease and died of urosepsis 5 months after first surgery. With posaconazole treatment, patient 2 recovered from the disease and showed no clinical sign of disease progression after 1 year.
CONCLUSION
Despite the rarity of the disease, ROCM should be considered if the findings of clinical and radiological examination fit, so that a delay in treatment initiation can be avoided. As our both cases show, survival from ROCM is possible - albeit at a high cost.