A burn wound may rarely become infected with mucormycosis. This is a potentially life-threatening infection, especially if diagnosis and therapy are delayed.
Clinical manifestations include:
(1) poor wound healing
(2) necrosis progressing into surrounding tissues
(3) SIRS with negative blood culture
The risk for infection may be increased if the patient is immunocompromised, has diabetes or has other risk factors.
Diagnosis may be delayed for a variety of reasons. Molecular methods may not be available. It should be suspected based on:
(1) necrosis in debrided tissue with fungal hyphae
(2) mold isolated from tissue
The presence of mucormycosis is associated with increased mortality, especially if the infection is disseminated.
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