Pulmonary invasive mucormycosis in a patient with secondary iron overload following deferoxamine therapy.

Mucormycosis (zygomycosis) is an acute and often fatal opportunistic fungal infection. Predisposing factors in the development of mucormycosis are nonspecific and include hyperglycemia, hematologic malignancies, neutropenia, pharmacologic immunosuppression, solid organ or bone marrow/stem cell transplantation, burns, trauma, malnutrition, and intravenous drug use. Mucormycosis has also been described in patients with iron and aluminum overload, patients on dialysis, and patients receiving iron chelating therapy. We describe a 75-year-old man with myelodysplastic syndrome and iron overload secondary to multiple red blood cell transfusions who had been treated with deferoxamine chelation therapy. He was admitted to the hospital for atrial fibrillation, developed multiple organ failure, and died. Pulmonary invasive mucormycosis was demonstrated at autopsy. This case further documents an association between invasive mucormycosis, iron overload, and deferoxamine therapy.