Cureus
. 2021 Mar 18;13(3):e13978.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.13978.
Submassive Pulmonary Embolism in Mild COVID-19 Without Lung Infiltrates
Gaurav Manek 1 , Manasvi Gupta 1 , Soontharee Congrete 2 , Debapriya Datta 2
Affiliations
- PMID: 33880305
- PMCID: PMC8053007
- DOI: 10.7759/cureus.13978
Abstract
A 66-year-old man who had been diagnosed with mild coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) infection nine days prior presented to the emergency room with acute-onset chest pain and shortness of breath. Chest CT angiogram (CTA) revealed pulmonary emboli (PE) in the right and left pulmonary arteries with right heart strain; lung parenchyma showed no infiltrates. Although severe COVID-19 infection is associated with thrombotic complications, data regarding the occurrence of PE in mild cases of COVID-19 is scarce. However, even mild cases of COVID-19 are reported to have revealed lung infiltrates, particularly ground-glass opacities, on imaging. The possibility of the lungs being the primary source of COVID-19-associated coagulopathy has been raised. We report an uncommon case of submassive PE occurring in mild COVID-19, without any associated lung infiltrates. This case indicates that mild COVID-19, without significant lung parenchymal involvement, can also cause a hypercoagulable state, resulting in venous thromboembolism (VTE).
Keywords: corona virus; covid-19; hypercoagulable state; lung infiltrates; mild disease; pulmonary embolism; sars cov-2.