Giant lung bulla as a late-onset complication of mild SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia

Submitted: February 20, 2023
Accepted: August 20, 2023
Published: September 27, 2023
Abstract Views: 2224
PDF: 60
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Authors

A 49-year-old Caucasian man was admitted to the Emergency Department for shortness of breath and cough. Computed tomography (CT) imaging showed bilateral mild COVID-19-related pneumonia. He was hospitalized in the low-intensity COVID-19 unit, where he received O2 therapy and oral corticosteroids. Three weeks after discharge, a high-resolution CT (HRCT) found a giant bulla in the inferior lobe. The bulla was resected by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, and the patient recovered completely. In our patient, it is reasonable to suspect that the development of the bulla is a result of SARS-CoV-2 infection since no bulla was observed in the first HRCT two months before. SARS-CoV-2-related pneumonia may be responsible for lung remodeling due to diffuse alveolar damage and later interstitial myofibroblastic proliferation. Corticosteroids might have played a role in increasing SARS-CoV-2 dystrophic action. COVID-19 leads to pulmonary damages, which are still partially unknown and might result in the development of bullae. In fit patients, surgical treatment can be carried out safely.

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Citations

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How to Cite

Petroncini, Matteo, Leonardo Valentini, Piergiorgio Solli, and Pietro Bertoglio. 2023. “Giant Lung Bulla As a Late-Onset Complication of Mild SARS-CoV-2 Pneumonia”. Monaldi Archives for Chest Disease 94 (3). https://doi.org/10.4081/monaldi.2023.2559.

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