Subject(s)
Anticoagulants/adverse effects , Antithrombins/therapeutic use , Blood Coagulation/drug effects , Coronavirus Infections/therapy , Heparin/adverse effects , Pipecolic Acids/therapeutic use , Pneumonia, Viral/therapy , Pulmonary Embolism/drug therapy , Thrombocytopenia/drug therapy , Adult , Anticoagulants/administration & dosage , Arginine/analogs & derivatives , Betacoronavirus/pathogenicity , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/complications , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Heparin/administration & dosage , Host-Pathogen Interactions , Humans , Male , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/complications , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Pulmonary Embolism/blood , Pulmonary Embolism/diagnosis , Pulmonary Embolism/virology , SARS-CoV-2 , Sulfonamides , Thrombocytopenia/blood , Thrombocytopenia/chemically induced , Thrombocytopenia/diagnosis , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The patient, an 83-year-old woman, lived with her daughter, at whose workplace, a person had been diagnosed as having COVID-19. The daughter was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia, however, the results of the PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 performed twice were negative. The patient developed fever a few days later, and visited an outpatient clinic for patients with fever and a history of travel abroad. The result of a nasal swab PCR test was negative, and antibiotics were prescribed. While the fever gradually subsided, the patient began to experience dyspnea. Therefore, she visited the outpatient clinic again for a repeat nasal swab test. Meanwhile, the dyspnea became severe and she was transported to our hospital. Immediately after admission, she was intubated and initiated on mechanical ventilation. A nasal swab and a specimen of lower respiratory tract secretions were submitted for COVID-19 testing by PCR, and while the nasal swab test result was negative again, the lower respiratory tract specimen yielded a positive result�E�EThe possibility of false-negative results of PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2 should be borne in mind in close contacts or strongly suspected cases of COVID-19. PCR testing of specimens of lower respiratory tract secretions might be necessary for suspected cases of COVID-19 pneumonia.