Intestinal mucormycosis: a rare entity in pediatric oncology

A scoping review on acute gastrointestinal surgical complications in immunocompromised pediatric patients

Background

Gastrointestinal complications are becoming increasingly more common and pose a significant risk on the health of children with compromised immunity caused by various etiologies such as chemotherapy and posttransplantation immunosuppression. We aim to review abdominal complications in immunocompromised children and their respective management.

Main body

This is a scoping review of the literature. PubMed, MEDLINE, Google Scholar, and Scopus libraries were searched for relevant articles. Extracted data included the etiologies of immunocompromised immunity, gastrointestinal and abdominal complications in immunocompromised children, diagnosis, and treatment of these pathologies. Examples of gastrointestinal complications in immunocompromised children include, but not limited to, neutropenic enterocolitis, acute appendicitis, bowel perforation, acalculous cholecystitis, and acute pancreatitis. Our literature review showed that bacterial and fungal infections are the major causes of exacerbation and mortality. The main cause of immunosuppression in children with neutropenic enterocolitis and acute pancreatitis is chemotherapy, and management of these pathologies using intravenous fluids, antibiotic therapy, and granulocyte-stimulating factors is the current standard of care. Surgical intervention is uncommon and reserved for complicated cases. That said, in acute appendicitis and bowel perforation, laparoscopy is the mainstay treatment. However, in systemic infections, nonsurgical interventions such as transfusion and bowel rest are the gold standard. As for acalculous cholecystitis, percutaneous cholecystectomy is superior to laparotomy and other surgical interventions.

Conclusion

Timely diagnosis and management of gastrointestinal complications in the immunocompromised children is key in reducing mortality and morbidity. Both surgical and nonsurgical interventions are needed and should be further studied in order to improve outcomes.

Gastrointestinal mucormycosis in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: An uncommon but ominous complication

Invasive fungal infections constitute a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children undergoing therapy for hematological malignancies. We report a 1-year-old boy who was receiving chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. His clinical course was complicated by a clinical syndrome consistent with neutropenic enterocolitis to which he succumbed. Histopathology of the surgically resected bowel revealed evidence of mucormycosis. Gastrointestinal mucormycosis is an unusual presentation which requires high degree of clinical suspicion and aggressive management.

Invasive Gastrointestinal Mucormycosis: A Master Masquerader

We report 3 previously healthy children of postneonatal age who developed fatal form of gastrointestinal mucormycosis after systemic inflammatory response syndrome, shock and metabolic acidosis. Abdominal distension and peritonitis were secondary complications. The study highlights the importance of clinical suspicion of gastrointestinal mucormycosis when the triad of shock requiring vasoactive drugs, metabolic acidosis and abdominal distension is present.

Gastrointestinal and liver infections in children undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy in the years 2000

AIM: To review gastrointestinal and liver infections in children undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy. To look at gut microflora features in oncology children.

METHODS: We selected studies published after year 2000, excluding trials on transplanted pediatric patients. We searched English language publications in MEDLINE using the keywords: “gastrointestinal infection AND antineoplastic chemotherapy AND children”, “gastrointestinal infection AND oncology AND children”, “liver infection AND antineoplastic chemotherapy AND children”, “liver abscess AND chemotherapy AND child”, “neutropenic enterocolitis AND chemotherapy AND children”, “thyphlitis AND chemotherapy AND children”, “infectious diarrhea AND children AND oncology”, “abdominal pain AND infection AND children AND oncology”, “perianal sepsis AND children AND oncology”, “colonic pseudo-obstruction AND oncology AND child AND chemotherapy”, “microflora AND children AND malignancy”, “microbiota AND children AND malignancy”, “fungal flora AND children AND malignancy”. We also analysed evidence from several articles and book references.

RESULTS: Gastrointestinal and liver infections represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children undergoing antineoplastic chemotherapy. Antineoplastic drugs cause immunosuppression in addition to direct toxicity, predisposing to infections, although the specific risk is variable according to disease and host features. Common pathogens potentially induce severe diseases whereas opportunistic microorganisms may attack vulnerable hosts. Clinical manifestations can be subtle and not specific. In addition, several conditions are rare and diagnostic process and treatments are not standardized. Diagnosis may be challenging, however early diagnosis is needed for quick and appropriate interventions. Interestingly, the source of infection in those children can be exogenous or endogenous. Indeed, mucosal damage may allow the penetrance of endogenous microbes towards the bowel wall and their translocation into the bloodstream. However, only limited knowledge of intestinal dysbiosis in oncology children is available.

CONCLUSION: The diagnostic work-up requires a multimodal approach and should be implemented (also by further studies on new biomarkers) for a prompt and individualized therapy.

Esophageal mucormycosis in an immunocompetent child: A rare presentation

Invasive mucormycosis of the esophagus (rare) and gastrointestinal tract is emerging as an important cause of concern in children. It usually affects immunosuppressed individuals. However, infection of immunocompetent children is also seen. The diagnosis of mucormycosis is difficult both at the clinical and the laboratory level, hence leading to unsatisfactory treatment and high mortality rates. The infection is usually life threatening so an early diagnosis and prompt administration of antifungal therapy is imperative.

Fungal infections of the gastrointestinal tract in the immunocompromised host: an update

Fungal infections are one of the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised patients. The incidence of invasive fungal infections, including those of the gastrointestinal tract, has increased significantly as numbers of immunocompromised patients have increased. The diagnosis of fungal infections in immunocompromised patients may be particularly problematic as these patients may present with atypical clinical features. Although Candida and Aspergillus species represent the majority of fungi diagnosed in the immunocompromised patient population, other fungi are emerging as increasingly common pathogens, and this review will focus on several important emerging fungal infections in immunocompromised patients.

Novel therapeutic use of Versajet for intestinal mucormycosis

We describe the case of a 17-year-old boy who developed intestinal mucormycosis from Rhizophus oryzae (order Mucorales) following chemotherapy for the management of acute myeloid leukaemia. He underwent a hemicolectomy and further surgery utilising the pressure washing of Versajet to debride colonised fungal collections from the psoas muscle limiting the amount of surgical debridement needed.