Spontaneous Pneumomediastinum in COVID-19 Patients

Onur Derdiyok¹, Serkan Aydemir², Mustafa Taner Yıldırmak², Mine Adaş³

¹Department of  Thoracic Surgery, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Istanbul - ²Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Istanbul - ³Department of Internal Medicine,  Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Istanbul

Introduction: COVID-19 disease, thought to originate from China, is now a global pandemic. It shows a variety of pulmonary manifestations, mostly in the form of ground-glass opacities with a peripheral distribution. Less common manifestations such as pneumomediastinum have also been reported. The aim of this study is to make a contribution to the literature to be familiar with uncommon symptoms and presentations and highlight the importance of early diagnosis.

Materials and methods: Patients with pneumomediastinum on computed tomography (CT) and COVID-19, which was confirmed by positive real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test result included in the study. Patient data were collected retrospectively from medical records.

Results: In 7 patients, pneumomediastinum was the initial presentation, while two were diagnosed with CT Pneumomediastinum after the COVID-19 diagnosis. All patients had mild disease, underwent conservative therapy, and no complication was observed during the follow-up period.

Conclusion: In the second year of the pandemic, the disease still manifests itself with some rare pulmonary and extrapulmonary symptoms. It is crucial to be familiar with these uncommon presentations and diagnose patients at early stages.