Unusual gastrointestinal manifestations of COVID-19: two case reports
Gastroenterology and Hepatology from Bed to Bench,
Vol. 13 No. 4 (2020),
20 Shahrivar 2020
,
Page 410-414
https://doi.org/10.22037/ghfbb.v13i4.2156
Abstract
As of December 2019, a new strain of coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was discovered in Wuhan, China, following an epidemic of a fast-spreading viral respiratory disease, later called Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which then lead to the present pandemic the world has come to know. Patients who tested positive for COVID-19 are mostly asymptomatic or present with mild self-limiting symptoms. While GI symptoms occur with less prevalence, they are increasingly being reported. A diagnosis of Covid-19 has increased dramatically in patients presenting with gastrointestinal symptoms suggesting that GI symptoms should be taken into serious consideration with patient diagnosis.
Case 1: A 65-year-old man presented to the hospital emergency room with abdominal pain, Murphy's sign and chills without fever, subsequently diagnosed as acute acalculous cholecystitis with a positive COVID-19 rRT-PCR.
Case 2: A 78-year-old woman presented to the hospital emergency room complaining of severe positional epigastric pain precipitated by lying supine, chills with no fever, being later diagnosed as acute pancreatitis and a positive COVID-19 rRT-PCR. It has become evident that the ACE2 receptor plays a significant role as the entry site into human cells for the virus. This receptor is generally expressed in respiratory cells, as well as the gastrointestinal tract, corresponding with extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19. Studies concluded that the origin of gastrointestinal symptoms could be caused by the interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with cells through the ACE2 receptor. The findings of the present study support this theory, as both patients presented with symptoms regarding tissues with high ACE2 expression.
Keywords: Case Reports, Gastrointestinal Manifestations, COVID-19.
(Please cite as: Hassani AH, Beheshti A, Almasi F, ketabi Moghaddam P, Azizi MR, Shahrokh SH. Unusual gastrointestinal manifestations of COVID-19: two case reports Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench 2020;13(4):410-414).
- : Case Reports, Gastrointestinal Manifestations, COVID-19.
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