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Case report
Case of COVID-19 infection and polycythaemia presenting with massive acute pulmonary embolism
  1. Asadullah Nawazani1,
  2. Mahmoud Ghanaim2 and
  3. Sadia Tariq1
  1. 1Internal Medicine, Dubai Hospital, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  2. 2Emergency Department, Dubai Hospital, Dubai Health Authority, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  1. Correspondence to Dr Asadullah Nawazani; asadnawazani{at}hotmail.com

Abstract

We are reporting a middle-aged male patient with polycythaemia vera comorbidity. The patient was exhibiting symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath and was found to have acute pulmonary embolism. He was diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2. This case suggests that a high index of suspicion should be taken into consideration for thromboembolic events, when treating patients with COVID-19 with breathing difficulty and low oxygen saturation levels, especially in those who have underlying predisposing conditions for coagulopathy.

  • infections
  • haematology (including blood transfusion)
  • pulmonary embolism

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Footnotes

  • Contributors AN executed the manuscript (design, writing of case report, background, summary and follow-up) and contributed to the revision and approval of final version. MG contributed to the literature review and online research and wrote the discussion part of the report. He also reviewed the final version of the report. ST contributed in gathering the laboratory test data and radiology images and discussed these images with the radiologist of the hospital. She did the revision and approval of the final version.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.