Inappropriate Nasopharyngeal Sampling for SARS-CoV-2 Detection Is a Relevant Cause of False-Negative Reports.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
; 163(3): 459-461, 2020 09.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-378045
ABSTRACT
Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) detection of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA on nasopharyngeal swab is the standard for diagnosing active COVID-19 disease in asymptomatic cases and in symptomatic patients without the typical radiologic findings. For the present COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, we describe 4 symptomatic patients with negative RT-PCR results at the first nasopharyngeal swab, which became positive when collected a few hours later by an otolaryngologist. All the patients showed nasal obstruction. The present report suggests that inadequate nasopharyngeal sampling performed by untrained operators in the presence of nasal obstruction can be a relevant case of false-negative findings at RT-PCR, with a clear negative impact on the efforts to contain the current outbreak.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Specimen Handling
/
Nasopharynx
/
Clinical Competence
/
Coronavirus Infections
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg
Journal subject:
Otolaryngology
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
0194599820931793
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS