COVID-19 and orbital mucormycosis

Sarkar, Sandip; Gokhale, Tanmay; Choudhury, Sushmita Sana; Deb, Amit Kumar

doi:10.4103/ijo.ijo_3763_20

Cited by 180 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(7 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We cannot exclude a prior undocumented, untreated, or asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2 in the other half. Multiple case reports and series (10)(11)(12)(13)(14) from different parts of the world have described ROCM-or invasive maxillofacial fungal infection-in SARS-CoV-2-positive patients but with no evidence of an actual spike in case numbers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spike in Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis Cases Presenting to a Tertiary Care Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To determine if there was an increase in the rate of cases presenting with rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) to a tertiary care center during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the characteristics of the presenting cases.Methods: Retrospective observational study reviewing ROCM cases presenting from March 25 until September 25, 2020. Cases fulfilling the clinical, radiological, and pathological/microbiological criteria for diagnosis with ROCM were included. The number of cases presenting during the designated interval, their COVID-19 status, comorbidities, and clinical presentation were analyzed. The number of cases during the corresponding interval in the previous 3 years was used as reference to detect if there was a recent spike.Results: Of the 12 ROCM cases identified, 5 had a concurrent positive reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) test result for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), 1 had a prior positive result, and 6 did not have concurrent nor prior positive test results. Nine of the 12 cases had poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, and 2 cases had a hematological malignancy. All cases had orbital invasion, and eight cases had cerebral invasion. The number of cases identified during the interval is much higher than the numbers presenting in the prior 3 years during equivalent intervals (range, one to two cases) than those reported in the literature in different settings in the pre-pandemic era.Conclusions: There is an increased rate of ROCM cases presenting to our center during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a preliminary report, and further studies are needed to corroborate the findings and explain possible underlying links.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spike in Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis Cases Presenting to a Tertiary Care Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The increasing number of recent case series of mucormycosis complicating COVID-19 patients in the United States, 10 – 16 Austria, 17 Brazil, 18 Mexico, 19 Italy, 20 France, 21 Iran, 22 – 24 and India, 25 – 34 raises concerns regarding the misuse of immunosuppressive drugs in patients with COVID-19. Mucormycosis is a neglected mycosis that should be considered in the context of patients with COVID-19, in the same way as COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis, and it is possibly underreported.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Classically, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, neutropenia, and corticosteroid therapy are known risk factors for mucormycosis. 22 , 37 There is an urgent need to reconsider the careful use of these drugs in patients with severe COVID-19 due to the high prevalence of underlying comorbidities in these patients, 11 – 13 , 25 , 28 – 30 including diabetes mellitus, 13 , 16 , 19 , 26 , 28 – 30 hematological malignancies (i.e. acute myeloid leukemia), 17 end-stage kidney disease, 27 and organ transplant recipients.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 28 Another series of 10 patients in India identified 10 patients with CAM, suggesting that this condition is more common than expected. 29 Treating physicians should have a high suspicion for CAM in patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and severe COVID-19 presenting with rhino-orbital or rhino-cerebral syndromes. 16 Regardless of the reported regional differences in the underlying causes, manifestations, and treatment of mucormycosis is noted in studies throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America, 45 and, given the wide global distribution of the order Mucorales, 41 , 46 , 47 CAM should be considered among the differential diagnosis of co-infections in patients with COVID-19.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

COVID-19 associated mucormycosis: the urgent need to reconsider the indiscriminate use of immunosuppressive drugs

Rodríguez-Morales

Sah

Millán-Oñate³

et al. 2021

Therapeutic Advances in Infection

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Earlier published literature including several retrospective case series analyses have reported vulnerability of immune-compromised patients with pre-existing comorbidities e.g. diabetic ketoacidosis(DKA) treated with systemic glucocorticoids, Zn supplement, and longer ICU stay with O2 support towards mucormycosis ( 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ). However, These observations are not backed by sufficient scientific evidence to account for the proportionately higher Covid-associated MM in the second wave.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%