Elsevier

Radiology Case Reports

Volume 15, Issue 10, October 2020, Pages 2047-2050
Radiology Case Reports

Case Report
Use of chest CT-scan images to differentiate between SARS-CoV-2 infection and fat embolism: A clinical case

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radcr.2020.07.071Get rights and content
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Abstract

The authors present the case of a young man victim of a traffic accident during the SARS-CoV-2 confinement, having presented a fracture of the femoral shaft that was soon complicated by respiratory failure with oxygen desaturation. In this pandemic context, Covid-19 RT-PCR tests were carried out but returned negative. The CT images could suggest either a fatty embolism, a SARS-CoV-2 infection or both. The patient's condition improved significantly after going into intensive care and only symptomatic treatment. This case demonstrates the difficulty of differential interpretation of CT images between fatty embolism and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Keywords

Thoracic CT-scan
SARS-CoV-2
Differential diagnosis
Fat embolism

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Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no financial or other relations that could lead to a conflict of interest.