A Case of Gastric Mucormycosis Associated with Diabetes Mellitus and Alcoholic Hepatitis / 대한소화기내시경학회지

ABSTRACT

Mucormycosis is a rare, fulminating, opportunistic fungal infection that occurs almost exclusively in immunocompromised hosts such as patients with diabetes, leukemia, lymphoma. These fungi are ubiquitous in nature, and can be found on decaying vegetation and in the soil. So they are relatively frequent contaminants in the clinical microbiology laboratory. Recently the incidence of mucormycosis is rising associated with the increasing use of immunosuppressive agents, antibiotics. Though mucormycosis is frequently fatal, there has been a significant improvement in the outcome by early diagnosis and aggressive treatment. Mucormycosis can be categorized as rhinocerebral, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, cutaneous, widely disseminated and miscellaneous; gastro-intestinal involvement is extremely rare. We report a patient with gastric mucormycosis who had diabetes mellitus and alcoholic hepatitis. His chief complaint was an epigastric pain, and the gastroscopy showed huge multiple ulcers, coated with exudates. The histologic examination revealed multiple broad, nonseptate hyphae with right angle branchings, diagnosed as mucormycosis.