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Sandeep P. Dave, MD; Richard J. Vivero, AB; Soham Roy, MD, FAAP

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2008;134(2):206-209.

Mucormycosis is a rare and potentially fatal fungal infection that most commonly affects the immunocompromised population. Although originally described by Paltauf in 1885 (D. G. Finn as cited by Vessely et al^1(p573) and A. M. Marchevsky as cited by Oh and Notrica^2(p1607)), it was not until 1955 that Harris (as cited by Vessely et al^1(p573)) reported the first case of a mucormycosis survivor. In recent years, the number of immunosuppressed patients has increased partly owing to the widespread implementation of organ transplantation and the increasing prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection. Consequently, the incidence of mucormycosis has also increased, especially in pediatric patients. In the setting of immunocompromise, a high index of suspicion is required to accurately diagnose and treat this potentially lethal infection in a timely fashion. To our knowledge, we report the first case of facial cutaneous mucormycosis in an infant, who also represents the first reported neonate or infant to survive a cutaneous mucormycosis infection of the head and neck.

Author Affiliations: Department of Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Dr Dave); Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida (Mr Vivero, and Dr Roy).