Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) has been used successfully to treat a woman with rhinocerebral mucormycosis.
Although the patient died three months later of a Pseudomonas meningitis infection, there is evidence that the treatment arrested the rapid progress of the fungal disease: Cultures of the tissue following HBO treatment grew only bacterial contaminants instead of Rhizopus, which previously had been abundant.
The report was made to The Triological Society meeting in Los Angeles by Maj John C. Price, MC, USA, and Dennis L. Stevens, MC, USA, both of the Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Tex.
When first seen at the Brooke Army Medical Center, the 39-year-old woman had been treated for acute onset of right maxillary sinusitis for three days, but the condition had progressed, and periorbital edema, erythema, and severe vertigo had developed. Some cranial nerves were paralyzed.
She was given high-dose penicillin intravenously, Price said, and an aggressive effort