Retrospective Clinical Study of Eighty-One Cases of Intracranial Mucormycosis

BACKGROUND: Fungal infections of the central nervous system, especially cerebral mucormycosis or brain abscess are very rare.Cerebral mucormycosis is a rare disease. It is not an independent disease, but a secondary opportunistic infectious disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study has collected the data of 81 cases of intracranial mucormycosis from 28 Chinese hospitals, within 37 years, as well as reviewed the literatures and retrospectively analyzed and summarized this disease's background, clinical classifications, risk factors, pathology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. RESULTS: The 81 IM cases were aged between 15 days (the youngest) and 79 years (oldest), with a mean age of 41.6 years. Among them, 12 cases were <1 year old (the infant group), six cases were within one to 13 years old (the children group), and 63 cases were >14 years old (the adult group ). 45 cases were male and 36 were female, with a male/female ratio of 1.25:1.0. The shortest duration of the disease was three days, and the longest was 248 days. CONCLUSIONS: This study helped to realize an early diagnosis and treatment, improve the cure rate, and reduce mortality.