Cutaneous phycomycosis (mucormycosis) with fatal pulmonary dissemination

Phycomycosis of the skin manifested as a spontaneous solitary ulcer of the leg in a patient with uremia. The infection later spread to the lungs and produced fatal pulmonary infarction. Histopathologic study of the lesions revealed broad nonseptate fungal hyphae that had invaded vascular channels, with areas of necrosis and acute inflammation. Primary cutaneous phycomycosis is rare. In the studied cases, dissemination of infection did not occur. The unusual feature of fatal pulmonary dissemination of primary cutaneous phycomycosis as observed in our patient has not been described in the leterature.