Pediatric Mucormycosis: A 10-Year Systematic Review of Reported Cases and Review of the Literature
Otto, W.R.; Pahud, B.A.; Yin, D.E.
Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society 8(4): 342-350
2019
ISSN/ISBN: 2048-7193 PMID: 31181136 DOI: 10.1093/jpids/piz007
Accession: 069041195
Mucormycosis is a severe infection that affects a variety of patients, including immunocompromised children and neonates. Given improved survival rates from advances in the treatment of malignancies, the population at risk for mucormycosis is increasing. We conducted a systematic review of cases of mucormycosis in children in the English-language literature reported between August 2008 and June 2017 and analyzed the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, management, and outcome of those infections. The most common underlying diagnoses included neutropenia (41%), hematologic malignancy (39%), prematurity (13%), and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (11%). Sinus disease (28%) and disseminated disease (24%) were the most common presentations. Rhizopus spp were the most common organisms isolated (22%). Amphotericin B remains the backbone of treatment and was prescribed in 86% of these cases. The resulting mortality rate remains high (32%). We provide here the results of a literature review of mucormycosis in children, including its epidemiology and clinical manifestations, and describe current advances in its diagnosis and treatment.