Mucormycosis (zygomycosis): is there news for the clinician?

New data on mucormycosis (zygomycosis), relevant to the clinician, are analysed. Several clinical associations of this fungal infection have recently emerged: the association with therapy with the metal chelator desferrioxamine (mainly in dialysis patients), the rarity of mucormycosis in AIDS patients and its sporadic occurrence after bone marrow transplantation. New imaging techniques should be used serially in the case of rhinocerebral mucormycosis in order to evaluate the extent of the lesions and to guide potential surgery. Surgical debridement significantly improves the prognosis of rhinocerebral mucormycosis. Finally, results of the use of liposomal amphotericin B in a few patients with rhinocerebral mucormycosis are reviewed.