Multiple Diagnostic Methods for Mucormycosis: A Retrospective Case Series

Background: Mucormycosis is a rare invasive fungal disease with high mortality. Early diagnosis and targeted drugs are crucial to improving clinical outcomes.

Methods: We searched the electronic hospital database of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine for adult patients with mucormycosis between 2000 and 2021. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and outcome data were collected and compared with the data in the relevant literature.

Results: Eleven cases of mucormycosis-four of multisite infection, one of skin infection, five of lung infection, and one of gastrointestinal infection-were found and analyzed. The patients were diagnosed mainly based on pathological and histological findings, and three patients had metagenomic next-generation sequencing findings. Delayed diagnosis (i.e., diagnosis >7 days after patient admission or >30 days after onset of symptoms) results in poor prognosis compared with early diagnosis.

Conclusions: Improving awareness and shortening diagnosis time may improve the prognosis of mucormycosis. If mucormycosis is suspected, appropriate samples should be collected as soon as possible and submitted for biopsy, culture, or mNGS to confirm the diagnosis.