Deferiprone as adjunctive treatment for patients with invasive mucormycosis: A retrospective case series

Mucormycosis is a life-threatening disease requiring multimodal treatment with antifungals and surgery. The mortality rate remains high, prompting consideration of alternative treatment strategies. Deferiprone has in vitro activity against Mucorales, but its efficacy has never been evaluated in humans. Here, we retrospectively analyzed patients with confirmed mucormycosis who received deferiprone from 2011 to 2017. Five patients had hematologic malignancies and one was diabetic. The sites of infection included sinus-orbit-cerebral (67%), lung (17%), and disseminated infection (17%). Surgery was performed in 83% of cases and achieved local control for 33% of patients. A combination regimen of polyenes plus echinocandins was administered with step-down treatment using posaconazole. The median duration of antifungal treatment was 86 days (range: 46-435 days) days. Deferiprone was given as adjunctive treatment with a median dose and duration of 100 mg/kd/day (range: 86.2-100 mg/kg/day) and 25 days (range: 15-215 days), respectively. Overall, deferiprone was well-tolerated. Successful outcomes were observed at 12-week follow-up for 67% of patients. The mortality rate at 180-day follow-up was 50%. Adjunctive therapy with deferiprone showed safety and tolerability.