ABSTRACT
We report the first surgical series of patients developing pleural empyema after severe bilateral interstitial lung disease in confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection. The empyema results in a complex medical challenge that requires combination of medical therapies, mechanical ventilation and surgery. The chest drainage approach was not successful to relieve the symptomatology and to drain the excess fluid. After multidisciplinary discussion, a surgical approach was recommended. Even though decortication and pleurectomy are high-risk procedures, they must be considered as an option for pleural effusion in Coronavirus disease-positive patients. This is a life-treating condition, which can worsen the coronavirus disease manifestation and should be treated immediately to improve patient's status and chance of recovery.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/therapy , Drainage/methods , Empyema, Pleural/surgery , Respiration, Artificial/adverse effects , Aged , COVID-19/epidemiology , Chest Tubes , Empyema, Pleural/epidemiology , Empyema, Pleural/etiology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Switzerland/epidemiology , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak is evolving rapidly worldwide. The lungs are the target of the primary infection and patients with lung cancer seem to have a poor prognosis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported investigation of a possible role of interleukin-17 target therapy in patients with lung cancer and concomitant severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 infection.