„To be or not to be“: How real is the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection

Abstract

The pandemic COVID-19, consecutive of the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, reveals large variability, both in terms of severity and forms of clinical manifestation. We present the case of a young patient, with respiratory syndrome associated with fever, dermatological and neurological manifestations, related to imaging features compatible with COVID-19 infection. The test RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 remained negative in two distinct samples, but convalescent serological tests were positive for IgG-coronavirus, suggesting this etiology. In conclusion, pulmonary imaging, corroborated with clinical manifestations and epidemiological data, could disclose the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection, although RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 is the standard test for confirmation. The use of serological tests for diagnosis should be used in cases with high clinical suspicion and negative RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 results, in order to increase the identification rate of acute infections and to limit the spread of infection.

Keywords

• covid-19
• „ground glass“ image
• maculopapular rash
• false negative rt-pcr sars-cov-2