A 25-Year-Old Patient With Chest Wall Erythema and Tenderness Who Was Ventilated Mechanically

Abstract

A 25-year-old man with cerebral palsy, scoliosis, and ventilator dependence since SARS-CoV-2 infection 11 months earlier presented with a 2-week history of chest redness and swelling. The area of erythema and edema was located on the left side of the anterior chest and had grown to approximately 9 cm in diameter over the 2 weeks. It was tender to palpation. There was no history of trauma, injury, or bug bites at that site. He had not had a rash or similar lesions elsewhere on his body and had not taken any new medications. He did have increased, thick, yellow secretions from his tracheostomy, but no fevers. He was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to the United States as a child. He had not traveled anywhere outside the United States in more than a decade.