PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to present a case of an uncommon opportunistic fungal infection that appears in immunologically or metabolically compromised patients and is usually fatal. METHOD: A 54-year-old woman with an acute lymphoblastic leukemia had acute abdominal pain with peritoneal symptoms during her hospital stay. A laparotomy was performed and a cecal infarct firmly adherent to about 30 cm of infiltrated jejunal loop was discovered. RESULTS: Microscopic studies revealed an infiltration of the jejunal wall by abnormal lymphocytes. The cecal and ileal walls were infiltrated by leukocytes. Blood vessels were invaded by giant cells and large, unseptated, right-angle branching hyphea. CONCLUSIONS: These findings were considered typical of invasive mucormycosis of the cecum and the terminal ileum.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this article is to present a case of an uncommon opportunistic fungal infection that appears in immunologically or metabolically compromised patients and is usually fatal. METHOD: A 54-year-old woman with an acute lymphoblastic leukemia had acute abdominal pain with peritoneal symptoms during her hospital stay. A laparotomy was performed and a cecal infarct firmly adherent to about 30 cm of infiltrated jejunal loop was discovered. RESULTS: Microscopic studies revealed an infiltration of the jejunal wall by abnormal lymphocytes. The cecal and ileal walls were infiltrated by leukocytes. Blood vessels were invaded by giant cells and large, unseptated, right-angle branching hyphea. CONCLUSIONS: These findings were considered typical of invasive mucormycosis of the cecum and the terminal ileum.