Incidence, predisposing conditions and outcomes of cutaneous mucormycosis: A national database study.

BACKGROUND

The body of evidence on cutaneous mucormycosis is largely derived from case reports or single-centre databases.

OBJECTIVES

Our study aimed to describe incidence, predisposing factors and inpatient outcomes of cutaneous mucormycosis in the United States.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based retrospective study using the National Inpatient Sample 2016-17 data. Fifty-six discharges had a diagnosis of cutaneous mucormycosis on the International Classification of Diseases, tenth revision. Descriptive analysis was performed for the demographics, predisposing factors, length of stay (LOS), cost and inpatient mortality. The NIS represents 20% of all discharges in the United States, which allowed us to estimate the national incidence of cutaneous mucormycosis.

RESULTS

An estimated total of 280 admissions occurred between 2016 and 2017, indicating 3.9 cases per million admissions across the United States. The estimated incidence rate was 0.43 cases per million people per year. Median age was 49.5 (19-59) years, 44.6% were female, and 54.9% were Caucasian. We identified haematologic malignancies (48.2%) and solid organ transplantations (10.7%), often accompanied by skin/soft tissue or post-procedural infections, were the most common predisposing conditions. Median LOS was 15 (6-31) days, median total charges were 187,030 (65,962-446,265) USD, and in-hospital mortality rate was 16.1%.

CONCLUSIONS

In current clinical practice, physicians may encounter cutaneous mucormycosis most commonly in severely immunocompromised hosts with haematologic malignancies or transplantations, accompanied by skin/soft tissue or post-procedural infections. A high index of suspicion and prompt tissue sampling in at-risk groups is important to improve the outcomes.