COVID-19 tsunami: the first case of a spinal cord injury patient in Italy
Gabriele Righi & Giulio Del Popolo
Spinal Cord Series and Cases volume 6, Article number: 22 (2020)
Abstract
Introduction
We present the report of the first, to our best knowledge, case of COVID-19 in a tetraplegic person.
Case presentation
A 56-year-old male with AIS A C4 tetraplegia developed fever during the night, without any prodrome. His general practitioner suspected a urinary tract infection and prescribed him antibiotic therapy. After 2 days of antibiotic therapy the fever still persisted, so the individual was admitted to the local hospital and treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics. After 2 days he was transferred to our spinal unit. Considering the worsening of the chest X-ray and fever despite 48 h of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy, we strongly suspected viral pneumonia. SARS-CoV-2 was detected and antiviral therapy with Lopinavir/Ritonavir, associated with hydroxychloroquine, was promptly started. Fever ceased after 2 days of therapy.
