Asymptomatic COVID-19 in pregnant woman with typical chest CT manifestation: a case report

Abstract

We report a case of maternal asymptomatic COVID-19 in a patient with typical CT image of pneumonia in the third trimester, and both the mother and baby were well. The patient, a 30-year-old female, was transferred to Yichun People's Hospital at 37+3 gestational weeks because of a positive 2019 novel coronavirus nucleic acid result over seven hours. Her husband and mother-in-law were diagnosed with COVID-19 eight days before her admission and on the same day, respectively. The patient reported no discomfort before admission, and there were no abnormalities in the prenatal course during her pregnancy. On February 13 (the second day of admission), a patchy blurred shadow was observed in the lower lobe of the right lung in chest CT scan, and a live baby girl was delivered by a precaution-based emergent cesarean section because of suspected fetal distress shown in electrical fetal heart monitoring. Both the mother and the newborn were isolated separately after the operation without etiological examination of amniotic fluid, umbilical cord blood, placenta, etc. All the medical staff involved in the cesarean section were isolated as well. The mother was healthy and remained asymptomatic after delivery, while antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatment was offered. COVID-19 nucleic acid tests of pharyngeal swab were negative on the 4th and 6th day after operation. Chest CT on the 5th day after delivery showed inflammation in the lower lobe of the right lung, and reexamination on the 8th day showed a slight absorption of the inflammation. Samples of peripheral blood and pharynx swab were obtained from the newborn on the day of birth and four and seven days after birth and novel coronavirus nucleic acid test were all negative. The mother and baby dyad were discharged nine days after operation. And novel coronavirus nucleic acid tests were all negative in all medical staff involved. Key words: Coronavirus; Coronavirus infections; COVID-19; Pregnancy complications, infectious