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Case Reports
. 2020 Jul;68(7):1382-1384.
doi: 10.1111/jgs.16536. Epub 2020 May 16.

A Unique Presentation of Delirium in a Patient with Otherwise Asymptomatic COVID-19

Walid A Alkeridy  1   2 , Ibrahim Almaghlouth  1   3 , Rashed Alrashed  1 , Khalid Alayed  1 , Khalifa Binkhamis  4 , Aynaa Alsharidi  1 , Teresa Liu-Ambrose  5   6
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Unique Presentation of Delirium in a Patient with Otherwise Asymptomatic COVID-19

Walid A Alkeridy et al. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), manifests with a wide spectrum of presentations. Most reports of COVID-19 highlight fever and upper respiratory symptoms as the dominant initial presentations, consistent with the World Health Organization guidelines regarding suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, atypical presentations of this disease have been evolving since the initial outbreak of the pandemic in December 2019. We report a case of an older male patient who presented at our hospital with an unusual manifestation of COVID-19.

Design: Brief report.

Setting: A university hospital in Saudi Arabia.

Participant: A 73-year-old man who presented with confusion in the absence of any respiratory symptoms or fever.

Intervention: The patient was initially admitted with delirium and underwent a further work-up.

Measurements: Given his recent history of domestic travel and the declaration of a global COVID-19 pandemic status, the patient was administered a swab test for SARS-CoV-2.

Results: The patient's positive test led to a diagnosis of COVID-19. Although he began to experience a spiking fever and mild upper respiratory symptoms, he recovered rapidly with no residual sequela.

Conclusion: The recognition of atypical presentations of COVID-19 infection, such as delirium, is critical to the timely diagnosis, provision of appropriate care, and avoidance of outbreaks within healthcare facilities during this pandemic. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1382-1384, 2020.

Keywords: COVID-19; atypical; delirium; fall; outbreak.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article.

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