Use of chest CT-scan images to differentiate between SARS-CoV-2 infection and fat embolism: A clinical case

Penance Agbelele; François Van Maris; Mario Sanguina; Bachar Zerkly; Az-Eddine Djebara; Pierre Girard

doi:10.1016/j.radcr.2020.07.071

Use of chest CT-scan images to differentiate between SARS-CoV-2 infection and fat embolism: A clinical case

Radiol Case Rep. 2020 Oct;15(10):2047-2050. doi: 10.1016/j.radcr.2020.07.071. Epub 2020 Jul 30.

Authors

Penance Agbelele¹, François Van Maris², Mario Sanguina¹, Bachar Zerkly¹, Az-Eddine Djebara³, Pierre Girard^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology Department, South Oise Hospital Group, Creil, France.
² Medical Imaging Department, South Oise Hospital Group, Creil, France.
³ Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology Department, University Hospital of Amiens-Picardy 80480, Salouel, France.

Abstract

The authors present the case of a young man victim of a traffic accident during the SARS-CoV-2 confinement, having presented a fracture of the femoral shaft that was soon complicated by respiratory failure with oxygen desaturation. In this pandemic context, Covid-19 RT-PCR tests were carried out but returned negative. The CT images could suggest either a fatty embolism, a SARS-CoV-2 infection or both. The patient's condition improved significantly after going into intensive care and only symptomatic treatment. This case demonstrates the difficulty of differential interpretation of CT images between fatty embolism and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords: Differential diagnosis; Fat embolism; SARS-CoV-2; Thoracic CT-scan.

Publication types

Case Reports