Prague Med. Rep. 2022, 123, 279-286

https://doi.org/10.14712/23362936.2022.26

Delayed Spontaneous Pneumothorax in a Previously Healthy Nonventilated COVID-19 Patient

Ondrej Zahornacký1,2, Štefan Porubčin1,2, Alena Rovňáková1,2, Pavol Jarčuška1,2

1Department of Infectious Diseases and Travel Medicine, Louis Pasteur University Hospital, Košice, Slovakia
2Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Košice, Slovakia

Received March 2, 2022
Accepted October 18, 2022

Spontaneous pneumothorax is a serious and life-threatening complication of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia. It most commonly occurs during the acute phase of the disease in patients with pre-existing lung disease (e.g. emphysema, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, etc.) and in patients who require oxygen supplementation in any form (low-flow oxygen therapy, high-flow non-invasive or mechanical invasive or mechanical invasion). A rare case of a 52-year-old patient with a spontaneous pneumothorax who developed four weeks after PCR SARS-CoV-2 positivity was described. Interestingly, the patient did not have any factors that the literature considered risky for the development of this complication. During the acute phase of the disease, his condition did not require hospitalization. Imaging examinations could not clarify the cause of pneumothorax. With this case report, we want to point out the fact that spontaneous pneumothorax, as a rare and life-threatening complication of COVID-19 infection, may develop during recovery, and it is necessary to think about this complication in the differential diagnosis of dyspnoea.

References

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