ENT manifestation in COVID-19 patients

• Published in: Auris, nasus, larynx Vol. 47; no. 4; pp. 559 - 564
• Main Authors: El-Anwar, Mohammad Waheed, Elzayat, Saad, Fouad, Yasser Ahmed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-08-2020; Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Society of Japan Inc. Published by Elsevier B.V
• Subjects: Adenoids; Betacoronavirus; corona virus; Coronavirus Infections - physiopathology; Cough - physiopathology; COVID-19; Diarrhea - physiopathology; Dyspnea - physiopathology; ENT; Erythema - physiopathology; Fatigue - physiopathology; Fever - physiopathology; Headache - physiopathology; Humans; Myalgia - physiopathology; nasal manifestation; Nasal Obstruction - physiopathology; nose; Olfaction Disorders - physiopathology; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases - physiopathology; otorhinolaryngology; Palatine Tonsil; Pandemics; Pharyngitis - physiopathology; pharynx; Pneumonia, Viral - physiopathology; Respiratory Tract Infections - physiopathology; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; nose; pharynx; ENT; nasal manifestation; otorhinolaryngology; corona virus
• ISSN: 0385-8146; 1879-1476
• DOI: 10.1016/j.anl.2020.06.003

to detect, analyze and discuss the different ear nose throat (ENT) manifestations those were reported in COVID19 positive patients in the reviewed and published literatures.
We performed a search in the PubMed databases, Web of Science, LILACS, MEDLINE, SciELO, and Cochrane Library using the keywords; COVID-19, Novel coronavirus, corona, 2019-nCoV, SARS-CoV-2, ENT, ear, nose, throat, otorhinolaryngology, ORL, pharynx, ORL, smell, larynx, different ENT related symptoms. We reviewed published and peer reviewed studies that reported the ENT manifestations in COVID-19 laboratory-confirmed positive patients.
within the included 1773 COVID-19 laboratory-confirmed positive patients, the most common ENT manifestations of COVID-19 were sore throat (11.3%) and headache (10.7%). While the other reported ENT manifestations were pharyngeal erythema (5.3%), nasal congestion (4.1%), runny nose or rhinorrhea (2.1%), upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) (1.9%), and tonsil enlargement (1.3%).
ENT manifestations for COVID-19 are not common as fever and cough. But, a universal questionnaire using well-defined COVID-19 manifestations is needed to make the COVID-19 data precisely defined, complete and homogenous.