2021 Volume 46 Issue 6 Pages 691-697
A 69-year-old woman with a positive fecal occult blood test was diagnosed as having ascending colon cancer by colonoscopy. Surgery was scheduled, but postponed because of a positive RT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in respiratory samples collected for screening purposes on the day prior to admission. No chest CT findings or symptoms of pneumonia were present at that time. Eight days after the positive RT-PCR test, the patient was admitted to another hospital under the direction of the local health authority, was diagnosed as having moderate COVID-19 pneumonia, and received remdesivir and anticoagulant therapy for seven days. The RT-PCR test was repeated thrice over the next two weeks, and the last one returned a negative test result. On the same day, a repeat chest CT showed improvement of the pneumonia. Therefore, two days after the negative RT-PCR test result, laparoscopic right hemicolectomy was performed. The postoperative course of the patient was uneventful, and he was discharged 8 days after the operation without any pulmonary complications. None of the staff involved in the inpatient treatment contracted COVID-19. We present a report of this case with some review of the literature.
