Study to assess aetiology, clinical and imaging characteristics of post Covid-19 pulmonary cavitation

Deependra Kumar Rai; Rajeev K Priyadarshi; Saurabh Karmaker

doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1425_21

Study to assess aetiology, clinical and imaging characteristics of post Covid-19 pulmonary cavitation

J Family Med Prim Care. 2022 Feb;11(2):739-743. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1425_21. Epub 2022 Feb 16.

Authors

Deependra Kumar Rai¹, Rajeev K Priyadarshi², Saurabh Karmaker¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pulmonary Medicine, AIIMS Patna, Bihar, India.
² Department of Radiodiagnosis, AIIMS Patna, Bihar, India.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the aetiology and characteristics of pulmonary cavities that developed in patients recovering from COVID-19 infection.

Materials and methods: Between 1^st May 2021 and 30^st June 2021, we found 9 post COVID-19 patients who developed lung cavities on chest radiograph or CT during the follow-up period. These patients underwent routine blood examination, sputum examination and bronchoscopy to identify the aetiologies for the lung cavities.

Results: The duration from the onset of COVID-19 symptoms to the detection of lung cavities ranged from 18 to 82 days. Out of 7 patients, 4 had recovered from severe COVID-19 disease, 2 from moderate and 1 from mild disease. After the diagnostic workup, 5 patients were found to have COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis (CAPA), 1 patient with mucormycosis and 1 patient with mycobacterium infection. Two patients with CAPA also had bacterial infection; sputum culture from both these patients grew Klebsiella pneumonia.

Conclusion: Lung cavities can develop in patients recovering from COVID-19 pneumonia and fungal infection is the most common cause for such cavities.

Keywords: COVID-19 associated pulmonary aspergillosis; COVID-19 pneumonia; fungal pneumonia; pulmonary cavity.