|
|
Mucormycosis is caused by fungi of several different species, including Mucor, Rhizopus, Absidia, and Rhizomucor. When these organisms gain access to the mucous membranes of the patient's nose or lungs, they multiply rapidly and invade the nearby blood vessels. The fungi destroy soft tissue and bone, as well as the walls of blood vessels.
The early symptoms of rhinocerebral mucormycosis include fever, sinus pain, headache, and cellulitis. As the fungus reaches the eye tissues, the patient develops dilated pupils, drooping eyelids, a bulging eye, and eventually hemorrhage of the blood vessels in the brain—causing convulsions, partial paralysis, and death.
The symptoms of pulmonary mucormycosis include fever and difficulty breathing, with eventual bleeding from the lungs.
— Rebecca J. Frey
