Pulmonary mucormycosis eroding the chest wall: challenges in the management

Abstract

Pulmonary mucormycosis is a rare, life-threatening fungal infection usually seen in immunocompromised patients. Mortality in such patients is high due to underlying immunosuppression and poor general condition of the patients. Invasion of the adjacent structures is known but, to the best of our knowledge, pulmonary mucormycosis presenting with a full thickness chest wall erosion has not been reported. We report such a case with chest wall destruction with superadded bacterial infection. The use of prosthetic materials for chest wall reconstruction was not possible due to the presence of infection. In addition, there were other intra-operative and post-operative challenges which we managed using a multidisciplinary approach. This report highlights the successful outcome of this complex situation using pre-operative optimisation, adequate surgical debridement and effective management of post-operative complications with patience and perseverance.

Keywords: cardiothoracic surgery; diabetes; infectious diseases; surgery.