Open AccessSilent hypoxemia in a patient with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia
Author(s) -
A.D. Palman,
Д. А. Андреев,
Svetlana Suchkova
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
sečenovskij vestnik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2658-3348
pISSN - 2218-7332
DOI - 10.47093/2218-7332.2020.11.2.87-91
Subject(s) - hypoxemia , medicine , pneumonia , oxygen saturation , respiratory failure , intensive care medicine , covid-19 , intensive care unit , pediatrics , emergency medicine , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , oxygen , chemistry , organic chemistry
Patients with COVID-19 are typically characterized by severe lung injury with the development of acute respiratory failure. However, in some patients, subjective well-being may remain relatively satisfactory for a long time and, despite severe hypoxemia, they do not complain of shortness of breath. Case report. We observed a 65-year-old man hospitalized with severe SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia, low level of blood oxygen saturation, but at the same time without complaints of shortness of breath. Only as the disease progressed with a decrease in oxygen saturation when breathing atmospheric air (SpO2 ) lower than 85% he began to notice a feeling of lack of air. The patient’s condition worsened and as a result, he died in the intensive care unit from multiple organ failure. Discussion. This case clearly illustrates one more feature of the course of pneumonia associated with the novel SARSCoV-2 coronavirus and shows that SpO2 measurement is one of the leading objective criterion that allows a doctor to assess the real severity of a patient’s condition with COVID-19.