Annals of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (ISSN 2835-7132) | Volume 2, Issue 2 | Research Article | Open Access
Fernanda Franco Carregosa*
Assistant Physician at the Nucleus for Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Sleep Medicine in São Paulo, Brazil
*Correspondence to: Fernanda Franco Carregosa
Fulltext PDFIntroduction: The Coronavirus belongs to a respiratory virus’s family that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The manifestations of the Corona virus disease (COVID-19) have a wide clinical presentation, from asymptomatic to severe cases that evolve to septic shock and multiple organ failure. The otorhinolaryngological manifestations commonly include mild symptoms of the infection, such as odynophagia, headache, olfactory and/or taste disorders, among others.
Objective: Evaluate the prevalence of Coronavirus infection in an otolaryngology emergency department during the pandemic period. Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical records in a 6 month period (from June to December 2020), from patients presented with complaints suggestive of Coronavirus infection at the time of care. Those patients were submitted to one of 3 diagnostic methods: RT-PCR, IgM / IgG serology and / or Rapid test. Patients who did not perform the exam or those who did not provide the result, were excluded.
Results: 42 patients (42%) tested negative for COVID-19 with an average symptom duration of 12.28 days (ranging from 2 days up to 5 months) and 58 patients (58%) tested positive, with an average symptom duration of 17.79 days (ranging from 1 day up to 5 months). Coryza was present in 33 patients (56.89%), nasal obstruction in 31 (53.44%), myalgia in 30 (51.72%), olfaction disorder, such as hyposmia and anosmia in 29 (50%), odynophagia in 22 patients (37.93%), headache in 21 (36.2%), dysgeusia in 18.(31.03%), fever in 16 (27.58%), cough in 12 (20.68%), dyspnea and dizziness in 6 (10.34%), otalgia and dysphonia in 3 (5.17%).
Conclusion: Considering that the clinical condition generally presented is similar to a typical and common disease in this area - infection of several upper areas being the most common - the hypothesis of differential diagnosis between Coronavirus infection, should be raised and investigated.
Keywords: Covid-19; Otorhinolaryngology; Coronavirus
Fernanda Franco Carregosa, Joyce Rios Vilela dos Reis, Juliana Alves Fernandes, Marina Cançado Passarelli Scott, Carlos Henrique Lopes Martins, Heloisa dos Santos Nunes, Jose Antonio Pinto.Covid-19 in Otorhinolaryngology Practice: Symptoms and Prevalence at a Tertiary Service. Annal of Otol Head and Neck Surg. 2023;2(1):1-8.