Medical Microbiology

orders(diabetes).Thepathogenspenetrateintothetargetorganicsystem

withdust.Theyshowahighaffinitytovascularstructures,inwhichtheyre-

produce,potentiallyresultinginthrombosisandinfarction.Theinfectionsare

classifiedasfollowsaccordingtotheirmanifestations:

&Rhinocerebralmucormycosis,spreadsfromthenoseorsinusesandmay

affectthebrain.Mostoftenobservedasasequeltodiabeticacidosis.

&Pulmonarymucormycosis,withsepticpulmonaryinfarctions.Occurs

mostfrequentlyinneutropenicmalignancypatientsunderremissionther-

apy.

&Gastrointestinalmucormycosis(varyrare),seeninundernourishedchil-

drenandaccompaniedbyinfarctionsofthegastrointestinaltract.

&Cutaneousmucormycosis,manifestsasasequeltoskininjuries,espe-

ciallyburns.

&Disseminatedmucormycosis,asasequeltoanyoftheseforms,especially

pulmonarymucormycosis.

Diagnosis.Confirmationofdiagnosisisbasedondetectionoftissueinfiltra-

tionbymorphologicallytypicalfungalhyphae.Culturingcanbeattemptedon

368 6 FungiasHumanPathogens

Mucorales(Zygomycetes)

Sporangium

Columella

Sporangiospores

Apophysis

(not present in Mucor)

Spor-

angio-

phore

a

1 2

Fig.6. 6 aMorphologicalelements:

1 =sporangium(60– 350 lm)withsporangiospores(5– 9 lm),

2 =nonseptatehyphae(diameter 6 – 15 lm)withrhizoid(!rootlikestructure).

bAbsidiacorymbifera:lactophenolbluepreparation.Materialfromculture.

b

6

Kayser, Medical Microbiology © 2005 Thieme