Mucormycosis in head and neck area - the emerging health problem in COVID-19 pandemic. The perspective of a dental practitioner.

Mucormycosis is an invasive fungal disease caused by saprophytic molds and is characterized by a fulminant course and high mortality. Reported increase of disease cases and more frequent mucormycosis superinfections in COVID-19 patients are of a serious concern. Head and neck area is the most typical location of mucormycosis and often the first symptoms are eminent in oral cavity, therefore a dentist may be the first healthcare practitioner to recognize signs of this dangerous and potentially fatal disease. Urgent diagnosis and implementation of appropriate treatment are essential for the patient's survival. The dentist's participation in postoperative care is necessary and due to the destructive nature of radical surgical treatment, prosthetic rehabilitation is required to improve the patient's function and quality of life. Furthermore the vigilance of dentists will also allow early recognition of frequent recurrences of this insidious infection.

[1]  S. Bhadada,et al.  Intercepting the deadly trinity of mucormycosis, diabetes and COVID-19 in India , 2021, Postgraduate Medical Journal.

[2]  S. Honavar.  Code Mucor: Guidelines for the Diagnosis, Staging and Management of Rhino-Orbito-Cerebral Mucormycosis in the Setting of COVID-19 , 2021, Indian journal of ophthalmology.

[3]  D. Ashour,et al.  Spike in Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis Cases Presenting to a Tertiary Care Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic , 2021, Frontiers in Medicine.

[4]  A. Narwal,et al.  Does COVID 19 generate a milieu for propagation of mucormycosis? , 2021, Medical Hypotheses.

[5]  G. Tomar,et al.  Sino-orbital mucormycosis in a COVID-19 patient: A case report , 2021, International Journal of Surgery Case Reports.

[6]  F. Falcão-Reis,et al.  Orbital Apex Syndrome due to Orbital Mucormycosis after Teeth Infection: A Successful Case Report , 2021, Case Reports in Ophthalmology.

[7]  S. Janani,et al.  Mucormycosis. Case report and literature review , 2021, Hellenic Archives of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

[8]  P. Jeyaraj.  Sino-Maxillary Mucormycosis of Iatrogenic etiology in an immunocompetent patient - Importance of early diagnosis and prompt management , 2021, Journal of Clinical Otorhinolaryngology.

[9]  Keerthi Muddana,et al.  Fungal Infections of Oral Cavity: Diagnosis, Management, and Association with COVID-19 , 2021, SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine.

[10]  D. Chlubek,et al.  Mucormycosis of the maxillary sinus in an immunocompetent woman with oro-antral fistula – a case report , 2021 .

[11]  H. Badali,et al.  The double‐edged sword of systemic corticosteroid therapy in viral pneumonia: A case report and comparative review of influenza‐associated mucormycosis versus COVID‐19 associated mucormycosis , 2021, Mycoses.

[12]  A. Pandey,et al.  Extra-Rhino Cerebral Manifestations of Mucormycosis in Head and Neck Region: An Insight , 2021, Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery.

[13]  V. Gaur,et al.  An implant-supported prosthetic rehabilitation of a patient with a bilateral subtotal maxillectomy defect secondary to rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis: A clinical report of a graftless approach. , 2021, The Journal of prosthetic dentistry.

[14]  G. Moreno-Coutiño,et al.  Rhinocerebral mucormycosis to the rise? The impact of the worldwide diabetes epidemic☆☆☆ , 2021, Anais brasileiros de dermatologia.

[15]  H. Saluja,et al.  Unusual presentation of mucormycosis mimicking a localised sino-orbital pathology , 2021, BMJ Case Reports.

[16]  D. Brajkovic,et al.  Management of fulminant mucormycosis of the maxillary sinus and orbit with an uncontrolled diabetic , 2021, Srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo.

[17]  Karthikeyan.,et al.  Recurrent mucormycosis – Better understanding of treatment and management , 2020, Journal of family medicine and primary care.

[18]  W. Park,et al.  Mucormycosis in the Jaw: A Report of 2 Cases and Literature Review. , 2020, Oral health & preventive dentistry.

[19]  A. Bonifaz,et al.  Oral involvement in mucormycosis. A retrospective study of 55 cases. , 2020, Enfermedades infecciosas y microbiologia clinica.

[20]  M. Preda,et al.  Fungal rhinosinusitis between regular infection and aggressive life-threatening disease , 2020 .

[21]  B. Rammaert,et al.  Mucormycosis treatment: Recommendations, latest advances, and perspectives. , 2020, Journal de mycologie medicale.

[22]  H. Badali,et al.  Global guideline for the diagnosis and management of mucormycosis: an initiative of the European Confederation of Medical Mycology in cooperation with the Mycoses Study Group Education and Research Consortium. , 2019, The Lancet. Infectious diseases.

[23]  N. Malathi,et al.  Mucormycosis: A Brief Review , 2019, Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology.

[24]  A. Chakrabarti,et al.  Global Epidemiology of Mucormycosis , 2019, Journal of fungi.

[25]  F. Lanternier,et al.  Disease Entities in Mucormycosis , 2019, Journal of fungi.

[26]  A. Mahapatra,et al.  Maxillary Fungal Osteomyelitis: A Review of Literature and Report of a Rare Case , 2019, Annals of maxillofacial surgery.

[27]  A. Vande,et al.  Mucormycosis of maxilla following tooth extraction in immunocompetent patients: Reports and review , 2018, Journal of clinical and experimental dentistry.

[28]  S. Prabhu,et al.  A fatal case of rhinocerebral mucormycosis of the jaw after dental extractions and review of literature. , 2017, Journal of infection and public health.

[29]  G. Pangalis,et al.  Mucormycosis presenting with dental pain and palatal ulcer in a patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukaemia: case report and literature review , 2015 .

[30]  Sridhar Reddy,et al.  Oral mucormycosis: Need for early diagnosis!! , 2014 .

[31]  A. Chakrabarti,et al.  Epidemiology of Mucormycosis in India , 2013, Current Fungal Infection Reports.

[32]  P. Garzino-Demo,et al.  Management and outcomes of three cases of rhinocerebral mucormycosis. , 2011, Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology, oral radiology, and endodontics.

[33]  H. Kaya,et al.  Rhinocerebral mucormycosis: experience in 14 patients. , 2011, The Journal of laryngology and otology.

[34]  B. Peerapur,et al.  Sequence of oral manifestations in rhino-maxillary mucormycosis. , 2011, Indian journal of dental research : official publication of Indian Society for Dental Research.