Primary presentation of COVID-19 solely with gastrointestinal symptoms: a problem for the containment of the disease. Issue 11 (November 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dietrich, Christoph G.; Hübner, Dolores; Marx, Gernot; Bickenbach, Johannes; Bootsveld, Andreas
• Is Part Of: European journal of gastroenterology & hepatology. Volume 32:Issue 11(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-11
• Subjects: corona virus -- COVID-19 -- nausea -- pancreatitis; Digestive organs -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Liver -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Digestive organs -- Diseases; Liver -- Diseases; Periodicals; 616.33
• DOI: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000001922
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0954-691X

Abstract

Abstract : An oligosymptomatic patient with initially exclusively gastrointestinal symptoms (massive nausea and mild pancreatitis) turned out to suffer from COVID-19 during the hospital stay. The patient did not exhibit the typical COVID-symptoms cough or fever despite lung involvement. The gastroenterological diagnostic investigations comprised abdominal ultrasound, gastroscopy and endoscopic ultrasound and first revealed no clear cause of these symptoms. In an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan, patchy ground-glass opacities in both lungs were discovered and the following chest CT scan and a virus PCR test revealed the right and surprising diagnosis. This case report depicts the clinical course of this atypical case and discusses gastrointestinal COVID-manifestations and clinical consequences as well as consequences of this atypical presentation for disease control.