Gastric Mucormycosis due toRhizopus oryzaein a Renal Transplant Recipient

Gastric mucormycosis is a rare disease with a reported fatal outcome of 98%. Manifestations range from colonization of peptic ulcers to infiltrative disease with vascular invasion and dissemination. In our renal transplant patient a deep gastric ulceration infected withRhizopus oryzae(classZygomycetes), which is known to be an agent of mucormycosis, was diagnosed in the early posttransplant period after antirejection therapy. The infection was successfully managed with amphotericin B and omeprazole. Mucormycosis, an infection caused by fungi of the class Zygomycetes,orderMucorales,isusuallyfoundinimmunocompromised patients, with disease manifestations differing for each of the underlying conditions. The rhinocerebral form can be found most often in diabetic patients (8), the pulmonary and disseminated manifestations are found in association with hematological malignancies (5, 10), and the gastrointestinal formofthediseaseisprimarilyfoundinpatientssufferingfrom extreme malnutrition (8). Mucormycosis has also been recognized in patients requiring hemodialysis, predominantly after desferrioxamine therapy (17), and in immunosuppressed patients following organ transplantation (11). We describe a renal graft recipient with gastric ulcer invasively infected with Zygomycetes. This is the first report of a transplant recipient with gastrointestinal mucormycosis from whomRhizopus oryzaewas isolated.