First Detection of SARS-CoV-2 by Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase-Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay in Pleural Fluid.
Chest
; 158(4): e143-e146, 2020 10.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-593562
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic infection due to the spread of a novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), resulting in a wide range of clinical features, from asymptomatic carriers to ARDS. The gold standard for diagnosis is nucleic acid detection by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in nasopharyngeal swabs. However, due to limitations in this technique's sensitivity, thoracic imaging plays a crucial, complementary role in diagnostic evaluation and also allows for detection of atypical findings and potential alternative targets for sampling (eg, pleural effusion). Although less common, pleural involvement has been described in a minority of patients. This report describes the first case of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in pleural fluid obtained by means of ultrasound-guided thoracentesis, and its main characteristics are detailed. Pleural effusion is not a common finding in COVID-19 infection, but a prompt recognition of this potential localization may be useful to optimize diagnostic evaluation as well as the management of these patients.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pleural Effusion
/
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Coronavirus Infections
/
Clinical Laboratory Techniques
/
Betacoronavirus
Type of study:
Case report
/
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
/
Vaccines
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Journal:
Chest
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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