Pulmonary mucormycosis: Results of medical and surgical therapy

Mucormycosis is an opportunistic fungal infection that commonly begins by invading the respiratory tract. The purpose of the present study was to define the clinical presentation of pulmonary mucormycosis and to evaluate current treatment regimens. Thirty patients treated at our institution and 225 cases reported in the literature were reviewed. For the combined groups, the mean age at presentation was 41 +/- 21 years and associated medical conditions included leukemia or lymphoma (37%), diabetes mellitus (32%), chronic renal failure (18%), history of organ transplantation (7.6%), or a known solid tumor (5.6%). The in-hospital mortality was 65% for patients with isolated pulmonary mucormycosis, 96% for those with disseminated disease, and 80% overall. The mortality in patients treated surgically was 11%, significantly lower than the 68% mortality in those treated medically (p = 0.0004). The most common causes of death were fungal sepsis (42%), respiratory insufficiency (27%), and hemoptysis (13%). Pulmonary mucormycosis has a high mortality; however, antifungal agents appear to improve survival. In addition, surgical resection may provide additional benefit to patients with pulmonary mucormycosis confined to one lung.