Chest
Volume 81, Issue 5, May 1982, Pages 653-654
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Mucormycosis of the Trachea: An Unusual Cause of Acute Upper Airway Obstruction

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CASE REPORT

A 20-year-old white woman with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus presented to the hospital with a one-week history of sore throat which was being treated with oral penicillin. On admission, she was lethargic and febrile (100° F [37.7°C] orally) and physical examination revealed dry mucous membranes with a markedly erythematous pospharynx. Serum glucose was 475 mg/dl and the serum acetone was present at 1:32 dilutions.

The patient was begun on intravenous fluid replacement, antimicrobials and

Discussion

Human infection with mucormycosis most often occurs in a setting of impaired host resistance. While the rhinocerebral form is most common in diabetics, pulmonary mucormycosis is associated with leukemia or lymphoma in over 75 percent of the cases. The remaining cases are associated with diabetes, solid malignancies, chronic systemic disorders, and other disease entities treated with immuno-suppressive therapy. There have been two reports of pulmonary mucormycosis in otherwise healthy patients.12

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