Autoptic identification of disseminated mucormycosis in a young male presenting with cerebrovascular event, multi-organ dysfunction and COVID-19 infection

• Main Authors: Vidya Krishna, Jaymin Morjaria, Rona Jalandari, Fatima Omar, Sundeep Kaul
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-01-01
• Series: IDCases
• Subjects: COVID-19; Secondary infections; Fungal; Mucormycosis
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214250921001281

Among the secondary fungal infections in Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) infection, Aspergillosis has been reported more often than Mucormycosis. Disseminated mucormycosis is almost always a disease of severely immunosuppressed hosts. We report a young obese Asian male who was admitted with an acute anterior cerebral artery (ACA) territory infarct and severe COVID-19 pneumonitis to the intensive care unit (ICU). He had a complicated stay with recurrent episodes of vasoplegic shock and multi-organ dysfunction. At autopsy, he was confirmed to have disseminated mucormycosis. We believe this to be the first documented case of disseminated mucormycosis in an immunocompetent host with COVID-19 infection. The lack of sensitive non-invasive modalities and biomarkers to diagnose mucormycosis, along with the extremely high mortality in untreated cases, present a unique challenge to clinicians dealing with critically ill patients with COVID-19.