Qurban Zeeshan, Mullan Damian
Medical Oncology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, GBR.
Interventional Radiology, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, GBR.
Cureus. 2022 Nov 21;14(11):e31730. doi: 10.7759/cureus.31730. eCollection 2022 Nov.
Although severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)/coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection predominantly affects the respiratory system, it has also been found to be responsible for several gastrointestinal effects due to its capability to attack angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) type 2 cells in various parts of the body. Several cases of radiologically confirmed thyroiditis, axillary lymphangitis, and acute pancreatitis related to COVID-19 infection have been reported, which seem to arise from a direct cytotoxic effect of the virus itself. This case report presents an incidental 18-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) computed tomography (CT) finding of mild pancreatic inflammation/pancreatitis in an otherwise asymptomatic patient undergoing routine imaging as part of the staging process following stem cell transplant, who had recently recovered from a severe form of COVID infection. This case highlights the fact that COVID can trigger insidious inflammatory processes in a variety of organs often remaining clinically undetectable until resultant end-organ damage causes incipient clinical symptoms.
尽管严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）/冠状病毒病2019（COVID-19）感染主要影响呼吸系统，但由于其能够攻击身体各部位的血管紧张素转换酶2（ACE）细胞，也被发现会导致多种胃肠道影响。已有多例与COVID-19感染相关的经放射学证实的甲状腺炎、腋窝淋巴管炎和急性胰腺炎的病例报告，这些似乎都源于病毒本身的直接细胞毒性作用。本病例报告展示了一例偶然发现的18氟脱氧葡萄糖（FDG）正电子发射断层扫描（PET）计算机断层扫描（CT）结果，即在一名接受干细胞移植后分期检查的无症状患者中发现轻度胰腺炎症/胰腺炎，该患者最近刚从重症COVID感染中康复。该病例凸显了这样一个事实，即COVID可在多种器官中引发隐匿性炎症过程，这些炎症在临床上往往难以检测到，直到最终导致器官损伤并引发初期临床症状。
