COVID-19 and Hepatic Artery Thrombosis: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Hypercoagulable states, including venous and arterial thromboses, manifesting as pulmonary thromboembolism or stroke have been observed in COVID-19; recently, gastrointestinal thrombotic events have also been reported. This case report describes a patient with COVID-19 and abdominal pain, who developed coagulopathy and a rare association of hepatic artery thrombosis. Common hepatic artery thrombosis is usually observed among liver transplantation patients and has not been described in infectious disease. CASE REPORT A 45-year-old woman presented in the Emergency Department with a nonproductive cough, sore throat, asthenia, headache, myalgia, anosmia, and dysgeusia. On the 5th day after the onset of these symptoms, she tested positive for SARS-COV-2 and was managed with symptomatic drugs. Although her initial symptoms of COVID-19 improved progressively, on the 14th day she experienced acute abdominal pain. On the 16th day, she was hospitalized and administered intravenous analgesia. Abdominal computed tomography angiography revealed partial thrombosis in the common hepatic artery, which was confirmed by liver Doppler ultrasonography. Protein C and D-dimer levels peaked during this period. Serum tests for thrombophilia were negative. Subcutaneous enoxaparin (60 mg twice daily) was administered during hospitalization, and her abdominal pain improved significantly. She was discharged after 3 days and prescribed an oral anticoagulant for the next 30 days. CONCLUSIONS Thrombotic events are well-recognized complications of COVID-19 and recent reports show gastrointestinal involvement. This report of a rare association of hepatic artery thrombosis highlights the importance of investigating the thrombotic events in patients with abdominal pain and coagulopathy during COVID-19.

Spontaneous combined rupture of a pelvicalyceal cyst into the collector system and retroperitoneal space during the acquisition of computed tomography scan images: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Pelvicalyceal cysts are common findings in autopsies and can manifest with a variety of patterns. These cystic lesions are usually a benign entity with no clinical significance unless they enlarge enough to cause compression of the adjacent collecting system and consequently obstructive uropathy. Few cases of the spontaneous rupture of pelvicalyceal renal cysts have been published and to the best of our knowledge there is no report of a combined rupture to collector system and retroperitoneal space documented during a multiphase computed tomography. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 'real-time' spontaneous rupture of a pelvicalyceal cyst into the collecting system with fistulization into the retroperitoneum.The patient was a 78-year-old Caucasian man with a previous history of renal stones and a large pelvicalyceal renal cyst who was admitted to our Emergency department with acute right flank pain.A multiphase computed tomography was performed and the pre-contrast images demonstrated a right pelvicalyceal renal cyst measuring 12.0 × 6.1cm in the lower pole causing moderate dilation of the upper right renal collection system. In addition, a partially obstructive stone on the left distal ureter with mild left hydronephrosis was noted.The nephrographic phase did not add any new information. The excretory phase (10-minute delay) demonstrated a spontaneous rupture of the cyst into the pelvicalyceal system with posterior fistulization into the retroperitoneal space. CONCLUSION: In this case study we present time-related changes of a rare pelvicalyceal cyst complication, which to the best of our knowledge has fortunately not been previously documented. Analysis of the sequential images and comparison with an earlier scan allowed us to better understand the physiopathological process of the rupture, the clinical presentation and to elaborate hypotheses for its etiopathogenesis.