Symptoms of Pleurisy as the Initial Presentation of COVID-19

Oleynick, Christopher

Patient: Male, 48-year-old Final Diagnosis: Viral pleurisy Symptoms: Pleuritic chest pain Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: General and Internal Medicine OBJECTIVE: Unusual clinical course BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the virus responsible for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), has infected more than 8 million people worldwide and placed massive strains on healthcare systems around the world. Although classically causing cough, fever, and shortness of breath, increasing evidence suggests that manifestations of COVID-19 can be more subtle or masquerade as other clinical entities. CASE REPORT: A 48-year-old man with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus presented to the Emergency Department with acute-onset pleuritic chest pain that had developed 1 day earlier and was found to be hypoxemic, requiring supplemental oxygen. He was admitted under the internal medicine service and underwent an extensive work-up for his chest pain and hypoxemia, including a negative computed tomography scan with pulmonary embolism protocol, negative nuclear medicine ventilation/perfusion scan, normal electrocardiogram, and normal echocardiography. In the end, he was diagnosed with viral pleuritis as the diagnosis of exclusion. Our patient subsequently developed a fever and shortness of breath and his nasopharyngeal swab performed on admission to hospital returned positive for COVID-19. The patient’s pleuritic pain and oxygen requirements improved with supportive management over the next several days. CONCLUSIONS: I report a patient who experienced pleuritic chest pain from viral pleurisy that was the initial manifestation of COVID-19 which, to the best of my knowledge, has not yet been reported in the literature. This case report further emphasizes that COVID-19 may present with atypical symptoms. It is crucial to be aware of these atypical presentations of COVID-19 so that patients are appropriately identified, isolated, and treated, while protecting health care workers from exposure.