CASE REPORT   Free access

Journal of Radiological Review 2021 March;8(1):60-2

DOI: 10.23736/S2723-9284.21.00098-9

Copyright © 2021 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Acute dyspnea in a child at the time of COVID-19 pandemic: a rare case of late-onset chylothorax occurred 5 years after thoracic surgery

Enrica ROSSI ¹, Serena SALVADEI ², Chiara VIGNOLI ¹, Letizia MACCONI ¹, Giuseppe PAVIGLIANITI ³, Rocco MINELLI ⁴ ✉, Eugenio ROSSI ^{5, 6}, Marco DI MAURIZIO ¹

¹ Department of Radiology, Meyer Children’s Hospital, Florence, Italy; ² Emergency Department, Meyer Children’s Hospital, Florence, Italy; ³ Unit of Pediatric Radiology, ARNAS Ospedale Civico Di Cristina Benfratelli, Palermo, Italy; ⁴ V. Tiberio Department Life and Health, University of Molise, Campobasso, Italy; ⁵ Unit of Radiology and Ultrasound, A.O.R.N. Santobono-Pausilipon, Naples, Italy; ⁶ Pausilipon Hospital, Naples, Italy

The collection of chylous in the pleural space is defined chylothorax and it represents a potentially life-threatening disorder and a cause of morbidity and prolonged hospitalization. It must be promptly identified to avoid the risk of respiratory insufficiency and immunodeficiency. Chylothorax is a very rare complication in surgery and neck and chest trauma and it does generally occur hours or days after exposure to the aforementioned trauma or surgery. We present a case of a 5-year-old child with severe respiratory symptoms, which appeared during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. Imaging and chemical analysis demonstrated a massive pleural chylothorax onset occurred 5 years after thoracic surgery.

KEY WORDS: Chylothorax; Pediatrics; SARS-CoV-2