Mucormycosis diagnosis revisited: Current and emerging diagnostic methodologies for the invasive fungal infection (Review)

Abstract

Mucormycosis, which is a life threatening condition, is one of the side effects experienced by post-COVID-19 patients. Early identification and timely treatment are essential to stop the dissemination of the disease, since invasive mucormycosis has a very high fatality rate and significant disease dispersion. Conventional diagnostic techniques, including clinical diagnosis, serology, histopathology and radiology, have limitations in diagnosing the disease at an early stage. This warrants the need for advanced diagnostic tools such as nucleic acid diagnostics, advanced serological tests (ELISpot), PCR (pan-Mucorale test) and multiplex PCR. These techniques have been introduced to identify this invasive fungal infection at an incipient stage, thereby helping clinicians to prevent adverse outcomes. The use of biosensors and micro-needle based diagnostic methodologies will pave the way for devising more point-of-care tests that can be employed for the detection of mucormycosis at an incipient stage. The present review discusses the current techniques available and their drawbacks, and the usefulness of advanced diagnostic tools. Furthermore, the possibility of using future diagnostic methods for the diagnosis of mucormycosis is highlighted.

Histopathological spectrum of fungal infections in COVID 19 cases – A retrospective observational study

“…8 Thereby causing thrombosis, ischemia and necrosis; rapid spread to adjacent tissue. 10 Soft tissue necrosis was noted all cases in current study.…”

“…9 In 1885, the description of mucormycosis was first published by Paltauf; it is described the most lethal and rapidly progressing form of fungal infection, initiated by saprophytic fungi such as Rhizopus and Mucor. 10 The Mucorales species are thermotolerant, and have capacity of utilizing high carbohydrate sources and iron. 7 They have many virulence factors such as dormant spore formation, angio-invasive behaviour.…”

New Breath Diagnostics for Fungal Disease

“…Rhizopus is the primary genus responsible for mucormycosis, an opportunistic fungal infection often found in immunosuppressed individuals [74]. The current diagnostic standards for mucormycosis include histopathology, direct microscopy, and cell culture, which are often limiting due to a lack of specificity and an inability to differentiate between pathogens [75,76]. The economic burden of mucormycosis-related hospitalizations in the USA from 2005 to 2014 was approximately $48 million per year [77].…”

Atypical Skull-Base Osteomyelitis: Comprehensive Review and Multidisciplinary Management Viewpoints

“…Recognition of Mucor spp. is based on identifying broad, ribbon-like pauciseptate hyphae, with right-angle branching [ 61 ]. The pseudo-hyphae of Candida spp.…”

“…are thin, regular, and without true septation. Microbiologic and molecular techniques must be used to reliably identify the fungal genus and species [ 61 , 62 , 63 ].…”