Successful treatment of periodontal mucormycosis: report of a case and literature review

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology, oral radiology and endodontics Vol. 109; no. 3; pp. e64 - e69
• Main Authors: McDermott, Nancy E., Barrett, John, Hipp, Jason, Merino, Maria J., Richard Lee, Chyi-Chia, Waterman, Paige, Domingo, Demetrio L., Walsh, Thomas J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Mosby, Inc 01.03.2010
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Debridement - methods; Female; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Indexing in process; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - complications; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute - therapy; Middle Aged; Mucormycosis - complications; Mucormycosis - therapy; Periodontal Diseases - etiology; Periodontal Diseases - microbiology; Periodontal Diseases - therapy; Periodontium - microbiology; Periodontium - pathology; Periodontium - surgery; Surgery; Transplantation Conditioning - adverse effects; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 1079-2104; 1528-395X; 1528-395X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tripleo.2009.11.012

Mucormycosis is an aggressive and potentially devastating fungal infection which typically manifests in pulmonary, rhinocerebral, or disseminated forms in patients with hematologic malignancy. Mucormycosis confined to the periodontium is uncommon, and to our knowledge only 6 cases have been reported in the English-language literature. This case report describes a patient with acute leukemia and periodontal mucormycosis. Calcofluor fluorescence microscopy is also proposed as a method for establishing a prompt diagnosis and guiding extent of intraoperative surgical debridement.