Pneumothorax in COVID-19 disease- incidence and clinical characteristics
- PDF / 3,388,104 Bytes
- 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 58 Downloads / 178 Views
RESEARCH
Open Access
Pneumothorax in COVID-19 diseaseincidence and clinical characteristics Massa Zantah* , Eduardo Dominguez Castillo, Ryan Townsend, Fusun Dikengil and Gerard J. Criner
Abstract Background: Spontaneous pneumothorax is an uncommon complication of COVID-19 viral pneumonia. The exact incidence and risk factors are still unknown. Herein we review the incidence and outcomes of pneumothorax in over 3000 patients admitted to our institution for suspected COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of COVID-19 cases admitted to our hospital. Patients who were diagnosed with a spontaneous pneumothorax were identified to calculate the incidence of this event. Their clinical characteristics were thoroughly documented. Data regarding their clinical outcomes were gathered. Each case was presented as a brief synopsis. Results: Three thousand three hundred sixty-eight patients were admitted to our institution between March 1st, 2020 and June 8th, 2020 for suspected COVID 19 pneumonia, 902 patients were nasopharyngeal swab positive. Six cases of COVID-19 patients who developed spontaneous pneumothorax were identified (0.66%). Their baseline imaging showed diffuse bilateral ground-glass opacities and consolidations, mostly in the posterior and peripheral lung regions. 4/6 cases were associated with mechanical ventilation. All patients required placement of a chest tube. In all cases, mortality (66.6%) was not directly related to the pneumothorax. Conclusion: Spontaneous pneumothorax is a rare complication of COVID-19 viral pneumonia and may occur in the absence of mechanical ventilation. Clinicians should be vigilant about the diagnosis and treatment of this complication. Keywords: Pneumothorax, COVID-19, Spontaneous pneumothorax
Introduction The term spontaneous pneumothorax refers to the presence of air in the pleural space that is not caused by trauma or other obvious precipitating factor (trauma or iatrogenic during a procedure). While primary spontaneous pneumothorax occurs without a clinically apparent lung condition; secondary spontaneous pneumothorax is a complication of preexisting lung disease [1, 2]. To this date, there are only rare mentions of pneumothorax as a complication of COVID-19 viral pneumonia including few case reports [3–6]. * Correspondence: [email protected] Department of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
The incidence of this complication is still not yet exactly known. In a report by Chen et al. 1% (one patient) had a pneumothorax among other radiographic features [7]. In a study published by Yang and colleagues in 92 deceased COVID-19 patients, one (1.1%) had a pneumothorax and died as a result of it 5 days after the initial presentation [8]. A pneumothorax has also been linked to poor prognosis in patients infected with the acute Middle East respiratory syndrome corona-virus (MERS-CoV) [9]. The proposed mechanism of spontaneous pneumothorax in patients with COVID-19 disease
Data Loading...
