As the virus sowed, the fungus reaped! A comparative analysis of the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of rhino-orbital mucormycosis before and during COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The sudden surge of mucormycosis cases which happened during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic was a significant public health problem in India. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to analyse the clinico-epidemicological characteristics of the mucormycosis cases to determine the changes that had occurred due to COVID-19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India. Patients diagnosed with rhino-orbital mucormycosis were categorised into the following groups: Pre-pandemic(May 2019 to April 2020), Pandemic Pre-epidemic (May 2020 to April 2021) and Epidemic (1 May 2021 to 12 July 2021). The epidemiological, clinical and surgical data of all the patients were retrieved from the hospital records and analysed. RESULTS: The epidemic period had 370 cases, compared with 65 during pandemic period and 42 in the pre-pandemic period. Diabetes mellitus was seen in 87% of cases during epidemic period, 92.9% in the pre-pandemic period and 90.8% in the pre-pandemic pre-epidemic period. The proportion of patients suffering from vision loss, restricted extra-ocular movements, palatal ulcer and nasal obstruction was higher in the pre-epidemic groups, and the difference was significant (p, <.01). There was no history of oxygen use in 85.9% of patients and no steroid use in 76.5%. The death rates were the lowest during epidemic (10%). CONCLUSION: COVID-19 has caused a statistically significant increase in the number of mucormycosis infections. The mortality and morbidity which showed an increase during the first wave of COVID-19 decreased significantly during the epidemic period.

Efficacy of Intralesional Steroid Injection in Small Benign Vocal Fold Lesions.

OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to study the efficacy of intralesional steroid (ILS) injection in small benign vocal fold lesions and compare the outcomes with microlaryngeal surgery in terms of improvement in symptoms and reduction in lesion size. METHODS: The current randomized control trial was conducted in the Department of Otolaryngology at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh between 2014 and 2015. The clinical diagnosis was based on appearance of the lesion during endoscopy and the mucosal vibration pattern. Subjects with lesions of size less than or equal to 5 mm were included. RESULTS: A total of 29 subjects were included in the study and 15 (nine men and six women) of them were randomized to receive ILS injection. Fourteen (13 men and one woman) were randomized to the second group to receive initial microlaryngeal surgery. We noted significant reduction in the size of the lesion among subjects undergoing ILS injection at 12 weeks (1.11 + 1.45 mm) as compared to baseline (2.63 + 1.28 mm) with no recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: ILSs are effective in reducing size of lesion and also improve acoustic parameters, perceptual analysis, and grade of dysphonia in patients presenting with small benign vocal cord lesions.