Intestinal mucormycosis as a differential diagnosis of small bowel ischemia.

Abstract

Intestinal mucormycosis is a rare manifestation of the Mucor fungus, associated with high mortality and typically found in immunocompromised patients, though it has also been described in immunocompetent individuals. The mode of acquisition is digestive. It usually presents as abdominal pain, with ischemia and intestinal perforation, and the diagnosis is often histopathological after surgical resection. We present the case of a 54-year-old female patient with recurrent acute myeloid leukemia undergoing treatment with daunorubicin-cytarabine and experiencing febrile neutropenia. She developed patchy and progressive intestinal ischemia that evolved into intestinal necrosis, which was treated with antifungal medications and surgery. Examination of the surgical specimen revealed aseptate wide hyphae with branching at right angles, suggestive of Mucor fungus. This is a rare but highly mortal pathology in which clinical, radiological, and surgical suspicion is essential for early diagnosis and treatment, thus improving the patient's prognosis.