COVID-19-Associated Bronchiectasis and Its Impact on Prognosis

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 13; no. 5
• Main Authors: Suliman, Aasir M, Bitar, Bassel W, Farooqi, Amer A, Elarabi, Anam M, Aboukamar, Mohamed R, Abdulhadi, Ahmed S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palo Alto (CA) Cureus 16-05-2021
• Subjects: Infectious Disease; Internal Medicine; Pulmonology
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.15051

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which initially emerged in Wuhan, China, has rapidly swept around the world, causing grave morbidity and mortality. It manifests with several symptoms, on a spectrum from asymptomatic to severe illness and death. Many typical imaging features of this disease are described, such as bilateral multi-lobar ground-glass opacities (GGO) or consolidations with a predominantly peripheral distribution. COVID-19-associated bronchiectasis is an atypical finding, and it is not a commonly described sequel of the disease. Here, we present a previously healthy middle-aged man who developed progressive bronchiectasis evident on serial chest CT scans with superimposed bacterial infection following COVID-19 pneumonia. The patient's complicated hospital course of superimposed bacterial infection in the setting of presumed bronchiectasis secondary to COVID-19 is alleged to have contributed to his prolonged hospital stay, with difficulty in weaning off mechanical ventilation. Clinicians should have high suspicion and awareness of such a debilitating complication, as further follow-up and management might be warranted.