Acute fungal sinusitis in neutropenic patients of Namazi hospital/ Shiraz

Fungal sinusitis is a well known disease in immunocompromised patients, but recently many reports have indicated an increased prevalence of fungal sinusitis in otherwise healthy individuals. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of invasive fungal sinusitis (IFS) in neutropenic patients and to determine outcome factors that may affect their survival.

A total of 142 patients who were undergoing chemotherapy were followed by clinical and radiological features suggestive of fungal sinusitis. Patients with fever, headache, facial swelling and radiological finding underwent endoscopic sinus surgery. The biopsy materials were studied by mycological and histopathological methods.

Eleven from 142 patients were identified to have IFS. The ethiologic agents were Aspergillus flavus (5 cases), Alternaria sp. (3 cases), Aspergillus fumigatus (2 cases) and mucor (1 case). Eight of 11 cases died.

Invasive fungal sinusitis causes a high rate of mortality among immunocompromised patients. Therefore, early diagnosis with aggressive medical and surgical intervention is critical for survival.