Delhi hospital reports first-ever white fungus case causing damage to intestine

Delhis Sir Ganga Ram Hospital SGRH has come across a firstofitskind case of white fungus which causes multiple perforations ldquothroughout the intestinerdquo in a Covid19 patient doctors said on ThursdayldquoWhite fungus Candida causing multifocal perforations in the food pipe small bowel and large bowel in Covid19 infection has not been reported in literature to the best of our knowledgerdquo Dr Anil Arora Chairman of the Institute of Liver Gastroenterology and Pancreaticobiliary Sciences at the hospital saidA 49yearold woman was admitted to the SGRH on May 13 with complaints of severe abdominal pain vomiting and constipation She had undergone a mastectomy for breast cancer in December last year and had received chemotherapy till four weeks ago he saidldquoA CT scan of the abdomen revealed free air and moderate amount of free fluid in the abdominal cavity suggestive of an intestinal perforationrdquo the hospital said in a statement The doctors immediately placed a tube inside the abdomen and drained about one litre of bilestained pusA team of surgeons led by Dr Samiran Nundy of the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation conducted an emergency surgery on the patient the next day The surgery revealed perforation in the lower end of the food pipeAlso ReadBlack Fungus Owing to high costs of treatment poor families stand helplessA part of the small intestine had developed gangrene and sloughed off and the patient had multiple thinned out patches in the wall of the colon with one small leak Dr Nundy said ldquoThe perforations were closed and the gangrenous segment was resected in a difficult surgery lasting four hours after which a piece of intestine was sent for biopsyrdquo he saidThe biopsy revealed severe ulceration of the intestinal wall with resultant perforation and necrosis caused by invasive white fungus Dr Arora said The womans Covid19 antibody levels were markedly elevated Her blood and peritoneal fluid culture showed exuberant growth of the fungus She was immediately started on antifungals and showed remarkable improvement he said However five days later she had to undergo a second surgery for a small leak from the anastomotic site She is currently recovering from it said Dr Aurobindo of the Department of Liver Transplantation and G I SurgeryThere have been cases of fungal infection black fungus secondary to Covid19 infection with underlying diabetes but ldquowhite fungus causing severe ulceration and gangrene of the intestine with multifocal perforations in the food pipe small bowel and large bowel in the setting of Covid19 infection has not been reported in literature to the best of our knowledgerdquo Dr Arora said Malignancy recent chemotherapy and a superimposed Covid19 infection together drought down the immune system of the patient to dismally low levels he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever