Radiological analysis of acute pulmonary thromboembolism as a consequence of COVID-19: A case report

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 is a virus of the coronavidae family that causes COVID-19, a disease that emerged in 2019 and has already gone around the world, causing the World Health Organization to decree a pandemic state in 2020. One of the consequences of COVID-19 is the development of Pulmonary Thromboembolism (PE), a disease in which one or more pulmonary arteries are blocked by a blood clot. In this association with COVID-19, PE is caused by the pro-inflammatory and hypercoagulant state developed by the SARS-CoV-2 infection. To analyze aspects of both diseases, imaging tests such as computed tomography (CT) and chest radiography (X-ray) are commonly used. CT and X-ray are considered first-line imaging tools to assess the decline in cases of COVID-19, and besides that, multidetector CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) can assist in the confirmation or exclusion of PE. Therefore, this case report is about imaging findings that correlate COVID-19 and PE.