Purpose: To report clinical presentations and factors affecting outcomes in rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis following COVID-19. Methods: Retrospective multi-centric interventional case series of 58 eyes with rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis. Demography, clinical parameters and management outcomes were noted. Factors affecting outcome and mortality were analyzed. Outcome was defined as favorable when complete resolution or stabilization without further progression of the infection was noted at last visit. Results: Mean age was 55 ± 11 years (median 56). The mean HbA1c value was 10.44 ± 2.84 mg% (median 10.5). The duration between the diagnosis of COVID-19 and rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis was 16 ± 21 days (median: 8 days). Thirty-six eyes (62%) had no vision at presentation. Imaging revealed paranasal sinus involvement (100%), orbital apex involvement (41%), cavernous sinus involvement (30%), and central nervous system (CNS) involvement (33%). All the patients were treated with systemic Liposomal amphotericin-B and sinus debridement. Twenty-two eyes (38%) underwent exenteration. One eye underwent transcutaneous retrobulbar amphotericin-B. The mean follow-up duration was 5.62 ± 0.78 months (median 6). Favorable outcome was seen in 35 (60%) cases. Presence of uncontrolled diabetes ( p = 0.001), orbital apex involvement ( p = 0.04), CNS involvement ( p = 0.04), and history of steroid use ( p < 0.0001) resulted in unfavorable outcome. CNS involvement was the only factor predicting mortality ( p = 0.03). Mortality was seen in 20 (34%) patients. Conclusion: Over a third of patients with rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis following COVID-19 have an unfavorable clinical outcome. Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus at presentation, involvement of the orbital apex, CNS, and the usage of steroids were associated with poorer outcomes. CNS involvement was a factor determining mortality.

Mucormycosis is an uncommon, rapidly progressive, angio-invasive, commonly fatal, opportunistic fungal infection. The most critical decision in the management of rhinoorbital mucormycosis is whether the orbit should be exenterated. (1) To layout the indications of orbital exenteration in patients with rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis. (2) To devise a scoring system that predicts the stage at which the exenteration needs to be carried out. A scoring system was devised by a team of experienced Otorhinolaryngologists and Ophthalmologists from prior experience in managing mucormycosis. All patients of mucormycosis visiting our hospital were admitted and included in the study. A total of 15 patients were included. The scoring system is based on 3 main criteria, namely: (1) clinical signs and symptoms. (2) Direct and Indirect Ophthalmoscopy. (3) Imaging. The Sion Hospital Scoring System is an accurate and promising measure to solve the dilemma that is associated with orbital exenteration in orbito-rhino-cerebral mucormycosis.

The orbital beak and superior oblique muscle are reliable landmarks to identify the anterior ethmoidal artery. There exists a strong correlation between the vertical distance of the artery from the base skull and the presence of the supraorbital ethmoid cell.

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Purpose: To report a series of 13 immunocompetent patients who developed new-onset uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (DM) following COVID-19 infection and presented as rhino-orbital mucormycosis (ROM). Method: Retrospective study. Results: A total of 127 patients of COVID-19 Associated Mucormycosis (CAM) were evaluated at four centres in India. All patients underwent endoscopic sinus debridement surgery and received systemic amphotericin-B therapy. Five patients (5/13; 38.4%) received retrobulbar amphotericin-B injections. Orbital exenteration was performed in advanced orbital involvement or progression of orbital disease in spite of maximal medical therapy. In his cohort, 13/127 (10.2%) patients presented with new onset DM, where one patient had bilateral disease. The mean age was 35.9 years (range: 20-51 years) and the mean duration from diagnosis of COVID-19 to the diagnosis of mucormycosis was 14.2 days. While 7/13 (53.8%) of the patients received systemic corticosteroids during the course of their treatment for COVID-19, six patients received no steroids or immunomodulators. The mean followup period was 9.2 weeks (range: 3-18 weeks) following discharge. Life salvage was possible in 100% of the cases. While overall globe salvage was possible in 42.8% (6/14 eyes), the globe could be preserved in 4/5 patients who received retrobulbar amphotericin-B injections. Conclusions: Those involved in the care of COVID-19 patients should be aware about the possibility of recent-onset DM, even in patients without a history of corticosteroid therapy. Rarely, recent-onset DM following COVID-19 may present as rhino-orbital mucormycosis, which requires aggressive surgical and medical intervention.

Objective To evaluate and compare the efficacy of endoscopic-assisted (EA) adenoidectomy with the conventional adenoidectomy (CA) with an aim to reduce rates of residual adenoid tissue after adenoidectomy. Methods A prospective randomized study involving 32 patients in which 16 underwent EA and 16 underwent CA. The outcomes compared were residual adenoid tissue after 3 months of surgery, operative blood loss, operative time and complications. Setting A tertiary care teaching hospital. Results EA was significantly better in terms of residual tissue left behind as compared to CA (p < 0.05), similar operative blood loss and operative time with no difference in complications. Conclusion EA makes for a safe and efficacious way to do an adenoidectomy which has a significant advantage over CA.

Middle ear ossicular reconstruction is a challenging task for any otologist. Over a period of time, surgeons have tried various types of materials as ossicular prosthesis with varying amount of success. In the last decade, numerous studies have been conducted that have proved that titanium prosthesis is biocompatible. We have conducted this study to investigate the efficiency of titanium middle ear prosthesis (Eon Meditech Pvt. Ltd.) in tympanoplasty. Nineteen patients who underwent tympanoplasty with titanium prosthesis placement from January to October 2010 were included in the study. Fifteen patients underwent reconstruction using titanium PORP while four patients required titanium TORP. The average follow up period was 11.1 months. The pre-operative and post-operative PTAs and the closure of the air-bone gap (ABG) at 0.5, 1, 2, 3 KHz (as per the AAO-HNS guidelines) were analyzed. As per the Indian speech and hearing association (ISHA) guidelines, the patients were classified into groups based on the amount of hearing loss. The improvement in the mean PTA (AC) was 16.21 dB in the PORP group while it was 20.47 dB in the TORP group (P value \ 0.05). According to ISHA guidelines, 18 out of 19 (94.8%) patients had either a normal hearing or a mild hearing loss post-operatively. The overall success rate (post-operative ABG B 20 dB) of this series is 68.4%. In this series, there has been no extrusion of the prosthesis. Titanium prosthesis is delicate, easy and quick to handle. They are efficient and suitable implants for middle ear ossicular reconstruction. The use of cartilage between the prosthesis and the graft helps to prevent extrusion of the prosthesis.

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