ABSTRACT
SESSION TITLE: Post-COVID-19 Infection Complications SESSION TYPE: Case Report Posters PRESENTED ON: 10/17/2022 12:15 pm - 01:15 pm INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 has affected over 200 million people worldwide. Clinicians continue to observe unusual manifestations of this disease. In an attempt to improve our understanding of COVID-19 pneumonia, we present the details of one patient who developed large bilateral pulmonary cysts. CASE PRESENTATION: A 40-year-old woman with no known medical problems presented with the chief complaint of fever, nausea, vomiting, generalized weakness followed by difficulty breathing that developed over a few days. Her vital signs on admission included temperature 98.4° F, heart rate 104 beats/minute, respiratory rate 48 breaths/minute, O2 saturation 88 percent on 15 liters of oxygen through a non-rebreather mask, and Body Mass Index 42 kg/m2. The patient tested positive for COVID-19. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest to rule out a pulmonary embolism showed bilateral extensive ground-glass opacities and reticular and nodular opacities. She was intubated for acute hypoxic respiratory failure. Twenty days into the hospital admission, she was noted to have a bulla in the right lower lobe. A repeat CT chest on day 45 revealed an increase in the number and size of cysts bilaterally. Patient was discharged to rehab and later readmitted for worsening respiratory status. This time she tested positive for human metapneumovirus. A CT chest showed increase in the size of the right sided lung cysts;the left sided lung cysts had resolved. DISCUSSION: The first COVID-19 related pulmonary cystic lesions were reported in May 2020(1). Since then, several reports have now established a relationship between an infection and cyst formation. The most common distribution is peripheral in the lower lobes. The pathogenesis remains uncertain, but several mechanisms have been proposed. Microthrombi in the pulmonary circulation could lead to ischemia and subsequent remodeling of interstitial matrix and bronchial obstruction with distal hyperinflation due to check valve mechanism. (1,2). Hamad et al. propose that pneumatoceles are formed by air leaked in to the interstitium which causes stripping and separation of a thin layer of lung parenchyma with further injury to the small blood vessels and bronchioles. The rate of barotrauma in non-COVID-19 related ARDS is 0.5%;the rate in COVID-19 ARDS is 15% (3). This suggests a close relation between COVID-19 pneumonia and subsequent development of pulmonary cysts. Our patient had no preexisting pulmonary disease and was noted to have pulmonary cysts after being on mechanical ventilation for almost 2 weeks. The patient later contracted the human metapneumovirus infection and CT showed that the right-sided lung cysts had become bigger in size. However, the left-sided cysts which had a maximum diameter of 4.8 cm had resolved. CONCLUSIONS: We need to follow patients with COVID 19 induced lung cysts clinically and radiologically to understand the clinical course and best management strategies. Reference #1: Kefu Liu et al. COVID 19 with cystic features on Computed tomography;Medicine (Baltimore) 2020May;99(18): e20175. PMCID: PMC7486878 Reference #2: Galindo J, Jimenez L, Lutz J et al. Spontaneous pneumothorax with or without pulmonary cysts, in patients with COVID 19 Pneumonia. Journal of infections in developing countries 2021;15(10);1404-1407 Reference #3: McGuinness G, Zhan C, Rosenberg N, Azour L, Wickstrom M, Mason DM, Thomas KM, Moore WH. Increased incidence of barotrauma in patients with COVID-19 on invasive mechanical ventilation. Radiology. 2020;297(2): E252–E262. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2020202352 DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by Arunee Motes No relevant relationships by Kenneth Nugent No relevant relationships by Tushi Singh No relevant relationships by Myrian Vinan Vega