Pulmonary Mucormycosis in An elderly Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patient: a Case Report

Abstract

Abstract Mucormycosis is a rare but fatal opportunistic fungal infection. Patients with hematologic malignancies who use immunosuppressant and glucocorticoid extensively are susceptible to mucormycosis. We report a case of an elderly patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who infected with pulmonary mucormycosis during chemotherapy. With a good balance of chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression and control of mucorales infection, azactidine combined with venetoclax gave the patient a complete remission of leukemia and pulmonary mucormycosis was well controlled. But due to poor compliance, the patient died of asphyxiation as a result of aspiration of pulmonary necrotic substances after discharge at home. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of an elderly patient with AML complicated with pulmonary mucormycosis dying of asphyxia from necrotic pulmonary substances. Proper precautions to should be taken in the management mucormycosis.