Case of COVID-19 and Acute Pancreatitis: A Case Report

Abstract

Background: Respiratory symptoms, including cough, shortness of breath, and fever, have been reported to be the most common symptoms of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). However, extra respiratory symptoms, such as gastrointestinal manifestations, have also been reported. Case Presentation: In our paper, we report a case of a 32-year-old African female patient with no previous medical history who presented to the emergency department with altered mental status for one day. The patient had a history of fever, epigastric pain, decreased oral intake, vomiting, and diarrhea. Initial laboratory findings revealed elevated blood glucose, amylase, lipase, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine levels. Urine ketones were also positive, and blood gases demonstrated severe metabolic acidosis. The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit as a case of diabetic ketoacidosis, acute kidney injury and acute pancreatitis that was later confirmed by computed tomography imaging, where it revealed bilateral renal vein thrombosis with left kidney infarction. Additionally, reverse transcriptasepolymerase chain reaction (RT‒PCR) confirmed COVID-19. The patient improved significantly following conservative management and anticoagulation and was discharged home. Conclusion: Our case demonstrates the importance of considering COVID-19 as a possible cause of acute pancreatitis and that acute kidney infarctions should be part of the differential diagnosis of acute kidney injury in patients who are COVID-19 positive.