Conservative treatment with mouthwashes followed by tongue photo biomodulation therapy in Covid-19: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Oral manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including ulcers, herpetiform lesions, macules, and petechiae, among others, are becoming increasingly recognized, but there is little guidance on their treatment. Reported cases have described treatment with various mouthwashes containing antivirals, antifungals, antibiotics, anesthetics, or steroids. Our case report is unique in that we provide guidance on the judicious use of these medications, followed by photobiomodulation therapy if the manifestations are treatment resistant. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe a 30-year-old Caucasian woman who tested positive for COVID-19 after developing nasal congestion and cough. Ten days after testing positive, she developed a systemic rash on her extremities and torso. At the same time, she developed swelling of the tongue lasting 1 hour, with subsequent appearance of oral lesions that resembled geographic tongue. She also had an irritable sensation on her tongue and some mild loss of sense of taste. We opted for conservative therapy, including mouth rinses containing lidocaine to be used every 6 hours. The patient used the mouth rinse therapy for 1 month and experienced a 90% improvement in her oral lesions and tongue sensitivity. However, she had repeated flares every 3 weeks over a 6-month period, and the steroid mouthwash achieved incomplete resolution. After three sessions of photobiomodulation therapy, she had no further flares or tongue sensitivity and the lesions healed. CONCLUSIONS: The implication of our report is that we promote the judicious use of topical antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and steroids for when they are indicated. We propose lidocaine-containing mouth rinses and steroid mouthwash as an initial, symptomatic treatment regimen for 'COVID-19 tongue.' If there is failure of resolution, we recommend photobiomodulation therapy.

Large Vessel Stroke Following Multiple Other Strokes and Cardiomyopathy in a Forty-Nine-Year-Old COVID-19 Patient.

The novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has made its presence known on the centerstage of worldwide healthcare in 2020. Although it is widely known about its pulmonary presence and ensuing complications, evidence is emerging that there are other organ systems including the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems that may be damaged by this virus. There have been reports of large vessel stroke occurring in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) positive patients, with very few reported in the age group less than 50 years. In this case, we describe a previously healthy 49-year-old male who presented with signs of stroke, and was found to have the novel coronavirus as he had been suffering from upper respiratory tract symptoms for 3 weeks. He subsequently developed further large vessel stroke while in the hospital despite being started on antiplatelet therapy. He was also found to have new onset cardiomyopathy. He was started on anticoagulation and discharged with follow-up for cardiomyopathy testing outpatient. This case begs the question on which anticoagulation to utilize in COVID-19 positive patients to be effective in preventing thrombotic events. It is postulated that a pro-inflammatory state induced by the virus and the virus' affinity for angiotensin converting enzyme-2 receptors in the cerebral vasculature are predispositions to cause a stroke. The virus also directly damages cardiac myocytes causing a number of cardiac complications including cardiomyopathy. It is crucial that guidelines on anticoagulation choice and indications for when to start anticoagulation be developed in order to prevent the more devastating consequences of thrombosis and embolism and their subsequent clinical sequelae.