Cavitary lung lesions and pneumothorax in a healthy patient with active coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) viral pneumonia

Amin Afrazi; Sylvana Garcia-Rodriguez; James D Maloney; Clinton T Morgan

doi:10.1093/icvts/ivaa238

Cavitary lung lesions and pneumothorax in a healthy patient with active coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) viral pneumonia

Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2021 Jan 1;32(1):150-152. doi: 10.1093/icvts/ivaa238.

Authors

Amin Afrazi¹, Sylvana Garcia-Rodriguez², James D Maloney¹, Clinton T Morgan¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.
² Radius Medical Image Analysis Laboratory, Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.

Abstract

Severe respiratory sequelae drive morbidity-associated with coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease. We report a case of COVID-19 pneumonia complicated by cavitary lesions and pneumothorax in a young healthy male. Pneumothorax management with catheter thoracostomy and rapid resolution of the cavitary lesions are described. An extensive work-up for other causes a cavitation was negative and the temporal correlation of the cavities with COVID-19 infection plus their rapid resolution suggest a direct relationship. We propose a mechanism for cavitation secondary to microangiopathy, a cause of cavitation in the vasculitides and a known feature of COVID-19.

Keywords: Cavitary; Coronavirus; Covid-19.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Adult
COVID-19 / complications*
COVID-19 / diagnosis
Disease Progression
Humans
Lung / diagnostic imaging*
Male
Pneumothorax / diagnosis*
Pneumothorax / etiology
SARS-CoV-2*
Tomography, X-Ray Computed