Indian Journal of Urology Users online:2054  
IJU
Home Current Issue Ahead of print Editorial Board Archives Symposia Guidelines Subscriptions Login 
Print this page  Email this page Small font sizeDefault font sizeIncrease font size


 
  Table of Contents 
CASE REPORT
Year : 2016  |  Volume : 32  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 154-155
 

Successful management of renal mucormycosis with antifungal therapy and drainage


1 Department of Urology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India
2 Department of Pathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India

Date of Web Publication22-Mar-2016

Correspondence Address:
Ravimohan S Mavuduru
Department of Urology, Nehru Hospital, PGIMER, Chandigarh
India
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/0970-1591.179192

Rights and Permissions

 
   Abstract 

We report a case of isolated extensive renal mucormycosis in an immunocompetent adult, who was successfully managed conservatively without surgical debridement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case where antifungal therapy alone was sufficient even with such an extensive involvement.


Keywords: Antifungal therapy, renal mucormycosis, immunocompetant adult


How to cite this article:
Devana SK, Bora GS, Mavuduru RS, Panwar P, Kakkar N, Mandal AK. Successful management of renal mucormycosis with antifungal therapy and drainage. Indian J Urol 2016;32:154-5

How to cite this URL:
Devana SK, Bora GS, Mavuduru RS, Panwar P, Kakkar N, Mandal AK. Successful management of renal mucormycosis with antifungal therapy and drainage. Indian J Urol [serial online] 2016 [cited 2023 May 29];32:154-5. Available from: https://www.indianjurol.com/text.asp?2016/32/2/154/179192



   Introduction Top


Mucormycosis is an opportunistic infection of the human body, seen mainly in immunosuppressed states. Renal involvement usually occurs in disseminated forms and is seen in up-to 19% of such cases. [1] Isolated renal involvement has usually been reported as case reports. However, majority of the patients (75%) suffering from isolated renal mucormycosis in India are apparently healthy individuals. [2] The standard treatment is early surgical debridement along with systemic antifungal therapy. Despite this, the mortality remains high. We report a case of isolated extensive renal mucormycosis in an immunocompetent adult, who was successfully managed conservatively.


   Case Summary Top


A 40-year-old gentleman presented to the Department of Urology with complaints of right flank pain, mass, and fever of 1 month duration. He also complained of anorexia and weight loss. There was no history of hematuria and lower urinary tract symptoms. On examination, he was pale and emaciated. He had tachycardia (120/min), but stable blood pressure (110/60 mm Hg). Abdominal examination revealed a 10 cm × 10 cm tender, hard mass occupying right lumbar and hypochondrial region. The skin over the mass was edematous. His investigation revealed hemoglobin of 5.7 g/dl, marked leukocytosis (32,000/mm 3 ), and serum creatinine of 1.3 mg/dl. Contrast enhanced tomography of the abdomen showed a large hypodense mass completely replacing the right kidney, with the loss of fat planes with inferior vena cava, duodenum, psoas muscle, and colon [Figure 1]a and b. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was performed due to a suspicion of renal cell carcinoma which revealed broad based aseptate hyphae on the periodic acid-Schiff stain, suggestive of mucormycosis. The patient was started on liposomal amphotericin B (3 mg/kg). His ELISA for HIV infection was negative. There was no history of sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, steroid intake, or any recent major illness. He was a farmer by occupation. His blood work-up was not suggestive of any hematological malignancy, and there was no history of recurrent infections in the past. His fever spikes decreased in severity and leukocyte count decreased to 17,000/cumm. In view of extensive renal involvement, he was taken for surgical debridement. Intraoperatively, the right side retroperitoneum was frozen with a pale hard mass and extensive infiltration of meso-colon. It was decided to abandon the procedure and a biopsy from the mass was taken. The Grocott methenamine stain of biopsy specimen showed the evidence of broad, aseptate fungal hyphae which were easily foldable upon themselves, confirming the morphology of mucormycosis [Figure 2]a and b. Postoperatively, liposomal amphotericin B was continued in a dose of 3 mg/kg body weight. The patient continued to improve on antifungal therapy and was subsequently discharged in a stable condition on the 10 th postoperative day, with advice to continue amphotericin B for a cumulative dose of 3 g. At 2 months from discharge, the patient presented with purulent discharge from the suture line. The pus was drained, the microscopy and the culture were negative for fungal hyphae. He was clinically better and had regained his appetite and weight. Imaging showed a perinephric collection [Figure 3]a, which was drained percutaneously using a pigtail catheter. He continued to have repeated episodes of purulent discharge from the lateral edge of the surgical wound even after this initial drainage. Hence, an open drainage of the underlying collection was performed under general anesthesia. He showed marked improvement thereafter. Follow-up computed tomography abdomen at 8 months showed a residual small mass in right renal fossa [Figure 3]b.
Figure 1: (a and b) Contrast enhanced computed tomography scan showing nonenhancing right renal mass with extensive involvement of surrounding structures

Click here to view
Figure 2: (a) High power view shows areas of necrosis and faint fungal profiles (periodic acid-Schiff, ×400) (b) many broad, aseptate fungal profiles are seen which are easily foldable upon themselves confirming the morphology of mucor (Grocott methanamine stain, ×200)

Click here to view
Figure 3: (a) Follow-up computed tomography scan at 2 months showing a diffuse hypodense area involving renal fossa suggestive of extensive liquefaction. (b) Follow-up computed tomography scan at 8 months showing residual small hypodense lesion in the renal fossa

Click here to view



   Discussion Top


Although renal mucormycosis is rare and generally occurs as a part of disseminated disease, its presentation as renal mass, mimicking malignancy, as was seen in our case, has not been reported in the literature. Disseminated mucormycosis generally occurs in the immunocompromised host and has a high mortality reported up to 75-100%. Survival after isolated renal mucormycosis has been reported to be 65% with combined surgical debridement and antifungal therapy. [3] Our case was immunocompetant. Early diagnosis and surgical debridement with antifungal therapy are thus the standard treatment of choice for renal mucormycosis. In our patient, surgery was not feasible as this would have involved major vascular resection and a significantly increased risk of mortality on the table. Survival with antifungal therapy alone, without surgical debridement, has never been reported in English literature. Chakrabarti et al. [4] in their 10 years of experience reported two cases of isolated renal mucormycosis, who were treated with antifungal therapy alone but did not survive. Since mucor is an angio-invasive fungus causing extensive necrosis, antifungal therapy alone fails because of poor tissue penetration. Our patient survived on antifungal therapy alone with additional drainage of sterile pus at a later date. Although he had a small residual collection, he had regained weight and appetite, prompting us to avoid further surgery. The pus-aspirate was negative for fungal hyphae. The reason for such a successful response is not clear, but our case shows that antifungal therapy, even in extensive renal mucormycosis can be a ray of hope in inoperable cases.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

 
   References Top

1.
Chakrabarti A. Epidemiology of mucormycosis in India. Curr Fungal Infect Rep 2013;7:287-92.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
Gupta KL, Joshi K, Sud K, Kohli HS, Jha V, Radotra BD, et al. Renal zygomycosis: An under-diagnosed cause of acute renal failure. Nephrol Dial Transplant 1999;14:2720-5.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Verma R, Vij M, Agrawal V, Jain M. Renal mucormycosis in immunocompetent patients: Report of three cases. Basic Appl Pathol 2011;4:66-70.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Chakrabarti A, Das A, Sharma A, Panda N, Das S, Gupta KL, et al. Ten years' experience in zygomycosis at a tertiary care centre in India. J Infect 2001;42:261-6.  Back to cited text no. 4
    


    Figures

  [Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3]

This article has been cited by
1 Renal mucormycosis in post-COVID patients in Australia
Matthew Chau, Nicole Swarbrick, Jennifer Kong
Urology Case Reports. 2023; : 102353
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
2 Co-infection associated with SARS-CoV-2 and their management
Vivek P Chavda, Aayushi B Patel, Anjali Pandya, Lalitkumar K Vora, Vandana Patravale, Zara M Tambuwala, Alaa AA Aljabali, Ángel Serrano-Aroca, Vijay Mishra, Murtaza M Tambuwala
Future Science OA. 2022; 8(9)
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
3 Clinical presentations, diagnosis, management, and outcomes of renal mucormycosis: An overview of case reports
Mojtaba Didehdar, Zahra Chegini, Amin Khoshbayan, Alireza Moradabadi, Aref Shariati
Frontiers in Medicine. 2022; 9
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
4 Mini Review: Risk Assessment, Clinical Manifestation, Prediction, and Prognosis of Mucormycosis: Implications for Pathogen- and Human-Derived Biomarkers
Jaime David Acosta-España, Kerstin Voigt
Frontiers in Microbiology. 2022; 13
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
5 Disseminated mucormycosis presenting as a renal mass in an human immunodeficiency virus-infected patient: A case report
Moshawa C. Khaba, Lesedi M. Nevondo, Sydney M. Moroatshehla, Ndivhuho A. Makhado
Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2021; 36(1)
[Pubmed] | [DOI]



 

Top
Print this article  Email this article
 

    

 
   Search
 
  
    Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
    Article in PDF (768 KB)
    Citation Manager
    Access Statistics
    Reader Comments
    Email Alert *
    Add to My List *
* Registration required (free)  


    Abstract
   Introduction
   Case Summary
   Discussion
    References
    Article Figures

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed4360    
    Printed123    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded200    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 5    

Recommend this journal

Fosfocin