As coronavirus pandemic continue to spread over the world, we have to be aware of potential complications on hospitalized patients. We report a case of a 79-year-old woman with COVID-19 pneumonia complicated by combined arterial and venous thrombosis of upper mesenteric vessels. As unenhanced chest CT scan plays a key role in managing the COVID-19 pandemic, we should pay attention to indirect signs of thrombosis.
Keywords: COVID-19, coronavirus, CT scan, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, Thrombosis
Gastrointestinal symptoms have been described in up to 39% of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected patients.1 Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 gastrointestinal infection was already demonstrated in a series of 73 patients, with 53% of patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool, possibly by the mediation through the viral host receptor ACE2, which stained positive in the cytoplasm of gastrointestinal epithelial cells.2 This data suggest that the virus can actively replicate in the bowel, but the computed tomography (CT) rendering of the gastrointestinal infection and its significance for the natural history of the disease remain unclear.
This is a retrospective case series of 3 SARS-CoV-2 infected patients who developed an acute abdomen during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Strasbourg (France) in March 2020.
The lack of knowledge concerning CT findings of SARS-CoV-2 gastrointestinal infection and the prognosis of such findings presented a challenge when deciding whether or not to operate these highly frail patients.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Hubei Province, China in December 2019 and has since become a global pandemic, with hundreds of thousands of cases and over 165 countries affected. Primary routes of transmission of the causative virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), are through respiratory droplets and close person-to-person contact. While information about other potential modes of transmission are relatively sparse, evidence supporting the possibility of a fecally mediated mode of transmission has been accumulating. Here, current knowledge on the potential for fecal transmission is briefly reviewed and the possible implications are discussed from a public health perspective.
Gastrointestinal symptoms have been described in up to 39% of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infected patients.1 Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 gastrointestinal infection was already demonstrated in a series of 73 patients, with 53% of patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool, possibly by the mediation through the viral host receptor ACE2, which stained positive in the cytoplasm of gastrointestinal epithelial cells.2 This data suggest that the virus can actively replicate in the bowel, but the computed tomography (CT) rendering of the gastrointestinal infection and its significance for the natural history of the disease remain unclear.
This is a retrospective case series of 3 SARS-CoV-2 infected patients who developed an acute abdomen during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in Strasbourg (France) in March 2020.
The lack of knowledge concerning CT findings of SARS-CoV-2 gastrointestinal infection and the prognosis of such findings presented a challenge when deciding whether or not to operate these highly frail patients.