https://doi.org/10.4081/itjm.2020.1410

Differential diagnoses in COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective descriptive study

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2021)
Submitted: 26 October 2020
Accepted: 24 November 2020
Published: 23 December 2020
Interstitial bilateral pneumonia, differential diagnoses, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Authors

Elia Rigamonti
elia.rigamonti@eoc.ch
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8726-6244
Internal Medicine Department, Regional Hospital of Lugano, Cantonal Hospital Authority, Lugano, Switzerland.
Tanja Fusi-Schmidhauser
Internal Medicine Department, Regional Hospital of Lugano, Cantonal Hospital Authority, Lugano, Switzerland.
Gianluca Argentieri
Radiology Department, Regional Hospital of Lugano, Cantonal Hospital Authority, Lugano, Switzerland.
Pietro Gianella
Internal Medicine Department; and Pneumology Department, Regional Hospital of Lugano, Cantonal Hospital Authority, Lugano, Switzerland.

Since February 2020, severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rapidly spread across Southern Switzerland. The available literature on differential diagnoses of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is scarce. Our study aims to review differential diagnoses of SARS-CoV-2 infections in public hospitals in Southern Switzerland and describe patients' related outcomes. Between 01.03.2020 and 15.04.2020, 344 patients had a chest computed tomography-scan at admission, 210 of them were pathological. 172 patients had a positive nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2, and 38 patients needed an additional diagnostic work-up and were included in this study. Among the selected patients, 8 underwent 2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for SARS-CoV-2, while 18 patients were subjected to 3 PCR. We observed 29 infective cases, 3 due to cardiovascular etiologies, 2 due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation, 1 due to cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, 3 not related to respiratory diseases. Our results highlight the importance of differential diagnosis in times of widespread occurrence of COVID-19, considering the similarity of symptoms and imaging appearance with other respiratory conditions.

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How to Cite

Rigamonti, E., Fusi-Schmidhauser, T., Argentieri, G., & Gianella, P. (2020). Differential diagnoses in COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective descriptive study. Italian Journal of Medicine, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/itjm.2020.1410

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