[Mucormycosis. Report of 3 cases]

Mucormycosis is an acute and often fatal infection caused by a fungus of the Mucorales order of the Zygomycetes class. There are various clinical types, usually associated with an underlying disorder. The rhinocerebral mucormycosis is usually seen in diabetics, especially in ketoacidosis, but may also appear in healthy people. We report three cases of mucormycosis diagnosed since april 1987 through january 2001 at the Dr. Domingo Luciani Hospital, Caracas, Venezuela. Two of them had diabetes and one was apparently healthy. The most common clinical presentation of mucormycosis was the rhinocerebral infection, seen in the two diabetic patients, both of them had cavernous sinus thrombosis one with involvement of the carotid artery. The other patient with sinus involvement had no predisposing factors. All patients were treated with amphotericin B and two of them had surgical debridement of involved tissue. We emphasize the importance of an early clinical diagnosis and treatment with surgical debridement of infected tissue combined with amphotericin B.