[A case of rhinocerebral phycomycosis]

Rhinocerebral phycomycosis is an uncommon opportunistic infection with ubiquitous fungi of the class Phycomycetes, starting in the nose and extending to the paranasal sinuses and then intracranially. The condition is often characterized by poor prognosis because of occlusion of the internal carotid artery. This disease is commonly associated with predispositions such as uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, which is the most common, immunosuppressive states and metabolic bankruptcy including leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, malnutrition, uremic or diarrheal acidosis, severe burns, anemia, carcinoma, radiotherapy, liver cirrhosis, hemochromatosis, tuberculosis, septicemia, long-term medication of steroid, antibiotics and antimetabolite, drug addiction, cytotoxic drug administration and AIDS. Cases with unknown predisposition, however, have been infrequently reported in the literature. The authors report a case of rhinocerebral phycomycosis in which concurrence of Candida species instead of the above-mentioned common predispositions was considered a potential predisposition. To our knowledge, only 1 report in which Candida species are referred to as a potential predisposition for this disease has been previously issued. A 85-year-old man was admitted to our hospital on March 2, 1994 because of generalized convulsion. He had received a total extirpation of an ascending colon cancer in July 1993. On admission, physical inspection showed no abnormalities and neurological examination revealed obtunded consciousness without other abnormalities. He had no diabetes mellitus. Hematological and blood chemistry values were normal except for CA19-9 of 45 U/ml.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)