European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to be a significant health problem worldwide. The unprecedented surge of mucormycosis in patients with COVID-19 is a new emerging challenge. Although a few studies documenting high incidence of mucormycosis in COVID -19 patients have recently emerged in literature, data pertaining to treatment outcomes in such cohorts is lacking. Here, we report our experience in management of mucormycosis in COVID-19 patients at our tertiary care centre. Materials and methods: We prospectively enrolled and analyzed 70 post-COVID-19 patients who presented with the invasive mucormycosis of the head and neck region. Clinical and histology details were noted in predesigned forms. Various histology variables were graded from I to III to propose a scoring system for the severity of the disease. Result: A male predominance (86%) was observed with a male to female ratio of 2.8:1 at an age range of 26–75 years (mean age 46.8 ± 11 years). All patients had a history of COVID-19 disease in the last 2 months. Maximum cases (94.3%) presented within 20 days of COVID-19 treatment/ recovery. All patients presented with one or other local or constitutional symptoms or signs. The most common complaint at the time of presentation was local facial pain (92.9%), swelling of the cheek (67.1%), and eye pain with periorbital swelling (35.7%). Conclusion: Mucormycosis is a rare but fatal fungal infection that should be kept in mind in covid 19 recovered patients especially those who have uncontrolled diabetes and treated with corticosteroids. Timely diagnosis by histomorphological assessment supported with special stains is the cornerstone to prevent an adverse clinical outcome.