Medical Case Reports

A Very Rare Complication of Covid-19: Penumothorax and Penumomediastinum

Background: Pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum are defined as free air within pleural ve mediastinal spaces, respectively. Spontaneous pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum combination is a very rare complication of Covid-19 pneumonia. With this case report we want to underline etiology and possible pathophysiology of these rare complications of Covid-19. At the same time, with this case, we wanted to contribute to the literature in terms of complications that may be seen due to Covid-19 infection.

Case Report: 24 years old male patient visited emergency service due to dyspnea and pleuritic chest pain since 3 days. High resolution thorax CT scan revealed spontaneous pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and Covid-19 pneumonia. Due to absence of predisposing factors, we considered pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax as rare complications of Covid-19 and administered patient to ICU unit.

Conclusion: Spontaneous pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum are rare but significant complications of Covid-19 and should be kept in mind as a differential diagnosis of chest pain and dyspnea at these patient group. Further researches are needed for etiology of pneumomediastinum and pneumothorax due to Covid-19.

Author(s):

Aynur Yurtseven

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