Alveolopleural Fistula In COVID-19 Treated with Bronchoscopic Occlusion with a Swan-Ganz Catheter

Abstract

Pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum are known complications of COVID-19 patients. They have been documented to occur both with and without mechanical ventilation. There are several reports of cases further complicated by alveolopleural or bronchopleural fistulas. However, there are no studies and only a few case reports on the treatment options used for alveolopleural fistulas in COVID-19 patients. To our knowledge, there is only one report of bronchoscopic treatment with endobronchial valves in a COVID-19 patient. We present the case of a 63-year-old male with COVID-19, pneumothorax, and an alveolopleural fistula that was successfully sealed using bronchoscopic occlusion with a Swan-Ganz catheter.

Keywords

• pneumothorax
• alveolopleural fistula
• covid-19
• swan-ganz catheter
• pulmonary artery catheter
• bronchoscopy
• persistent air leak
• treatment
• sars-cov-2
• bronchial occlusion