Evidence Hub

A fulminant presentation of post‐COVID‐19 necrotizing pneumonia and ischemic stroke in an 8‐year‐old girl: A case report and literature review

Fahimeh Ehsanipur, Pouya Ebrahimi, L. Tahernia, Mohammad Vafaee-Shahi

Clinical Case Reports, 2024

1 citation

Abstract

Necrotizing pneumonia (NP) is the destruction of the interstitial part of the lung due to severe infection. One cause of this rare and fatal condition in pediatrics is Acinetobacter. Severe infections, especially pneumonia, can prone pediatric patients to ischemic stroke. This study reports an 8‐year‐old girl presented to the emergency department complaining of shortness of breath, fever, and fatigue. She was admitted to the intensive care unit due to respiratory distress and pericardial effusion. Swab and respiratory secretion tests for COVID‐19 and Acinetobacter were positive. In her admission course, her condition deteriorated, and on the fifth day, she underwent a craniotomy due to the signs of increased intracranial pressure (ICP). The computed tomography (CT) scan showed an ischemic stroke. Despite all efforts and medical efforts, the patient's clinical condition got worse, and she died 10 days after the surgery. COVID‐19 can lead to vulnerability to severe bacterial infections such as NP in pediatrics. Severe infections are a significant risk factor for ischemic stroke. The presentation might be different in intubated unconscious patients, such as detecting increased ICP signs. In severe and extensive cases of NP and ischemia, the destruction of the lungs and brain tissue might be irreversible and even lethal. Doctors and parents should consider neurologic complaints in children with infectious diseases as a serious issue since infections make children vulnerable to…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free