Radiol Case Rep
. 2020 Sep 23.
doi: 10.1016/j.radcr.2020.09.036. Online ahead of print.
Late-onset pneumothorax in a COVID-19 patient treated with ventilation and ECMO: A case report and literature review
Toshihiro Horii 1 , Tomoyuki Fujioka 1 , Marie Takahashi 1 , Mio Mori 1 , Junichi Tsuchiya 1 , Emi Yamaga 1 , Hirofumi Yamada 1 , Mizuki Kimura 1 , Mitsuhiro Kishino 1 , Ukihide Tateishi 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 32989407
- PMCID: PMC7510434
- DOI: 10.1016/j.radcr.2020.09.036
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major threat to public health since the outbreak in Wuhan in 2019. Chest computed tomography is recommended for COVID-19 cases for evaluation and follow up of pneumonia and related complication. We report the case of a 66-year-old man with underlying hypertension and a history of smoking 76 packs a year; he was frequently monitored by computed tomography for pulmonary changes during the period from early symptom onset to death. Furthermore, he developed a pneumothorax during the course. The occurrence of pneumothorax in COVID-19 patients is not common, and there have been only a few previous reports. This is a valuable case of pneumothorax in a patient with COVID-19 treated with a ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. This case and previous reports suggest that pneumothorax occurs in COVID-19 with a relatively late onset (3-8 weeks). Long-term pneumonia morbidity, steroid therapy, positive pressure ventilation, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation can cause pneumothorax, leading to capillary and alveolar damage.
Keywords: COVID-19; Chest imaging; SARS-CoV-2; computed tomography; pneumothorax.