Rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis in new-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus: a case-based short review.

Mucormycosis is an aggressive angioinvasive fungal infection that commonly involves the paranasal sinuses, orbit, lungs, and central nervous system (CNS). Patients with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) are uniquely susceptible because hyperglycemia and acidosis enhance fungal invasion and blunt innate immune defenses. We present a brief vignette of rhino-orbito-cerebral mucormycosis in a patient with recent diagnosis of type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM), and use it to frame a short review of epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management. Rapid recognition, urgent surgical debridement, prompt initiation of high-dose liposomal amphotericin B, and reversal of metabolic derangements remain cornerstones of care. Emerging developments include broader use of isavuconazole and posaconazole as step-down therapy and expanding molecular diagnostics, including serum Mucorales polymerase chain reaction, that may enable earlier detection and treatment monitoring. Because outcomes are strongly time-dependent, clinicians should maintain a low threshold for multidisciplinary evaluation when invasive fungal sinusitis is suspected in patients with DM.