Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine (Aug 2020)

Patients with Mild COVID-19 Symptoms and Coincident Pulmonary Embolism: A Case Series

  • Joshua W. Joseph,
  • Jonathan C. Roberts,
  • Cheri N. Weaver,
  • Jonathan S. Anderson,
  • Matthew L. Wong

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5811/cpcem.2020.7.48254
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 3

Abstract

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Introduction: Frequent thrombotic complications have been reported in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. The risk in patients with mild disease is unknown. Case Report: We report a case series of three individuals recently diagnosed with COVID-19, who presented to the emergency department with chest pain and were found to have pulmonary emboli. The patients had mild symptoms, no vital sign abnormalities, and were negative according to the pulmonary embolism rule-out criteria. Conclusion: This suggests that patients with active or suspected COVID-19 should be considered at elevated risk for pulmonary embolism when presenting with chest pain, even without common risk factors for pulmonary embolism.