Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Perioperative Period of Lung Resection: A Brief Report From a Single Thoracic Surgery Department in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China

• Published in: Journal of thoracic oncology Vol. 15; no. 6; pp. 1065 - 1072
• Main Authors: Cai, Yixin, Hao, Zhipeng, Gao, Yi, Ping, Wei, Wang, Qi, Peng, Shu, Zhao, Bo, Sun, Wei, Zhu, Min, Li, Kaiyan, Han, Ying, Kuang, Dong, Chu, Qian, Fu, Xiangning, Zhang, Ni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2020; Copyright by the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer; International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Published by Elsevier Inc
• Subjects: 2019 Novel coronavirus disease; Aged; Betacoronavirus; Biopsy; Brief Report; Characteristics; China - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - complications; Coronavirus Infections - diagnosis; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; COVID-19; Female; Humans; Incidence; Lung - diagnostic imaging; Lung - surgery; Lung Neoplasms - complications; Lung Neoplasms - epidemiology; Lung Neoplasms - surgery; Lung resection; Male; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Perioperative Period; Pneumonectomy; Pneumonia, Viral - complications; Pneumonia, Viral - diagnosis; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; SARS-CoV-2; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Surgicenters; Thoracic Surgery; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; China; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; 2019 Novel coronavirus disease; Perioperative period; Lung resection; Characteristics
• ISSN: 1556-0864; 1556-1380; 1556-1380
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2020.04.003

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging infectious disease that was first reported in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China, and has subsequently spread worldwide. Clinical information on patients who contracted severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the perioperative period is limited. Here, we report seven cases with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in the perioperative period of lung resection. Retrospective analysis suggested that one patient had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 infection before the surgery and the other six patients contracted the infection after the lung resection. Fever, lymphopenia, and ground-glass opacities revealed on computed tomography are the most common clinical manifestations of the patients who contracted COVID-19 after the lung resection. Pathologic studies of the specimens of these seven patients were performed. Pathologic examination of patient 1, who was infected with the SARS-CoV-2 infection before the surgery, revealed that apart from the tumor, there was a wide range of interstitial inflammation with plasma cell and macrophage infiltration. High density of macrophages and foam cells in the alveolar cavities, but no obvious proliferation of pneumocyte, was found. Three of seven patients died from COVID-19 pneumonia, suggesting lung resection surgery might be a risk factor for death in patients with COVID-19 in the perioperative period.