Small bowel ischemia and SARS-CoV-2 infection: an underdiagnosed distinct clinical entity

Gastrointestinal symptoms have been described in up to 39% of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients (1). Evidence for SARS-CoV-2 gastrointestinal infection was already demonstrated in a series of 73 patients, with 53% of patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA in stool, possibly by the mediation through the viral host receptor ACE2, which stained positive in the cytoplasm of gastrointestinal epithelial cells (2). This data suggests that the virus can actively replicate in the bowel, but the computed tomography (CT) rendering of the gastrointestinal infection and its significance for the natural history of the disease remain unclear.

Source: Surgery - May 3, 2020 Category: Surgery Authors: Mihaela Ignat, Guillaume Philouze, Lucie Aussenac-Belle, Vanina Faucher, Olivier Collange, Didier Mutter, Patrick Pessaux Source Type: research