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Erciyes Med J 2020; 42(3): 346–7 • DOI: 10.14744/etd.2020.67984
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Ayfer İmre
A Typical Chest CT Appearance of a Case with
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
A 69-year-old male patient who had non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease admitted to the emergency department by suffering from cough, fever and shortness of breath one week
before her admission. Initial laboratory tests were in normal limits, but nonspecific scattered minimal ground glass
density was observed in computerized thorax tomography (CT). Upon this finding, the patient was sent to his home.
The patient’s complaints were persisted and applied to the Emergency Department one week later. The chest
CT showed consolidation in the left central zone, ground-glass opacity and reticular pattern in both lungs (Fig. 1).
Upon the observation of typical images for COVID-19, oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs were taken,
and the patient was hospitalized. There was a slight elevation in liver function tests, lymphopenia and elevated
CRP level. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed with RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2. A combination of hydrox-
ychloroquine, oseltamivir and levofloxacin were started and oral antidiabetic was also initiated for the regulation
of blood glucose level. Three days later, the patient’s d-dimer and ferritin levels increased, while the procalcitonin
level did not elevate. N-acetyl cysteine and anticoagulant therapy were also added to the therapy. The patient com-
plaints were resolved, and he was discharged nine days later with the advice of home isolation for the prevention
of spreading infection between the family members. Patient’s consent was obtained for this study.
The patient’s wife was also hospitalized with the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, and her tracheal aspiration
samples were positive for SARS-CoV-2 with RT-PCR.
COVID-19 has been described at the end of 2019 in Wuhan, China. After then, the outbreak spreads worldwide.
Clinical pictures may be varied from asymptomatic, mild and severe. Common symptoms include fever, cough
and myalgia or fatigue (1). Typical radiological appearance is described in the outbreaks from China. CT findings
are accepting as diagnostic and almost the gold standard for the diagnosis of COVID-19 (2, 3). In here, a typical
CT image was presented for COVID-19.
Informed Consent: Written informed consent was obtained from patients who participated in this study.
Peer-review: Externally peer-reviewed.
Conflict of Interest: The author have no conflict of interest to declare.
Cite this article as:
mre A. A Typical Chest CT
Appearance of a Case with
Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19). Erciyes Med J
2020; 42(3): 346–7.
Department of Infectious
Diseases and Clinical
Microbiology, Niğde Ömer
Halisdemir University Faculty
of Medicine, Niğde, Turkey
Submitted
21.04.2020
Accepted
21.04.2020
Available Online Date
11.05.2020
Correspondence
Ayfer mre,
Niğde Ömer Halisdemir
University Faculty of
Medicine, Department of
Infectious Diseases and
Clinical Microbiology,
Niğde, Turkey
Phone: +90 532 765 51 95
e-mail:
ayfer.imre@saglik.gov.tr
©Copyright 2020 by Erciyes
University Faculty of Medicine -
Available online at
www.erciyesmedj.com
Figure 1. Chest tomography images of the patient; the typical appearance of consolidation, bilateral,
peripheral and basal in the distribution of ground-glass opacity and crazy paving appearance in CT.