Experimental Cerebral Mucormycosis in Rabbits with Alloxan Diabetes §

Cerebral mucormycosis in man is an unusual, generally fatal, fungus infection, occurring chiefly in patients with diabetic acidosis. Clinically, the infection is characterized by unilateral ophthalmoplegia and meningoencephalitis. At autopsy the orbital tissues, meninges, and brain are invaded by fungus. Involvement of the paranasal sinuses has been noted in a few instances. In the past the fungus had not been isolated by culture and was classified as Mucor on the basis of its morphology in histologic preparations. The phycomycete Rhizopus oryzae of the order Mucorales has recently been isolated at autopsy in this laboratory from a diabetic patient who died with this infection. The clinical aspects of this unusual disorder, the autopsy findings, mycologic studies, and a review of the literature have already been reported.' The lesions of cerebral mucormycosis were reproduced experimentally in diabetic rabbits infected with several species of fungi of the order Mucorales.