Noma: difficulties of diagnosis (clinical case)

Abstract

The paper describes two clinical cases of treatment of patients with noma. This disease is extremely rare in the Russian Federation, and therefore its diagnosis causes difficulties, and incorrect routing of patients, due to diagnostic mistakes, leads to an increase in the time before the start of specialized care. Rapid progression of wet gangrene, in the absence of timely diagnosis and qualified treatment, leads to extensive defects of the maxillofacial region, severe intoxication, sepsis. In the first case, after surgical treatment of noma, the patient developed an extensive tissue defect of the left half of the face, which in the future will require reconstructive surgical treatment. In the second case, after surgical treatment, the patient had an extensive tissue defect in the middle zone of the face, and systemic disorders against the background of intoxication led to the death of the patient on the 7th day after hospitalization. Both clinical cases confirm the role of immunosuppression in the etiology of noma.