Rhizopus arrhizus in a Thrombus Retrieved from Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion in Rhino-Orbito-Cerebral Mucormycosis: A Case Report.

We report a fatal case of a 40-year-old man who developed rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis complicated by central retinal artery occlusion, cavernous sinus thrombosis, and internal carotid artery occlusion. Mechanical thrombectomy was performed for the internal carotid artery occlusion, with subsequent Sanger sequencing of the fungal components within the retrieved thrombus to identify Rhizopus arrhizus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report establishing the species-level identification of R. arrhizus in mucormycosis-associated large-vessel occlusion. These findings provide direct histopathological evidence of angioinvasive mucormycosis attributable to R. arrhizus.