Adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the treatment of rhinocerebral mucormycosis

Although fungi belonging to the order Mucorales rarely cause human disease, infections are most often seen in severely immunosuppressed patients. In 4 patients with rhinocerebral mucormycosis, hyperbaric oxygen therapy was utilized as an adjunct to surgical debridement and amphotericin B. Rhinocerebral mucormycosis was associated with diabetic ketoacidosis in 3 patients and with acute lymphocytic leukemia in 1 patient. In all 4 patients, mucormycosis progressed even after extensive surgical debridement and initiation of treatment with amphotericin B. The addition of hyperbaric oxygen therapy was associated with a decline in the progression of intracranial mucormycosis and limitation of ablative surgery.