Clinical and radiologic features of the first cured Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient in Guangzhou City, China

Abstract

To determine changes in clinical and radiologic findings associated with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from diagnosis to recovery, we retrospectively reviewed the diagnosis and treatment records of the first patient cured of COVID-19 in Guangzhou. A 55-year-old woman from Wuhan was admitted to the hospital isolation ward with the chief complaint of "cough for 11 days and once fever 8 days ago" on January 22, 2020. COVID-19 was laboratory confirmed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, and she received conventional antiviral therapy, such as moxifloxacin, traditional Chinese medicine, and arbidol. Repeat chest-computed tomography (CT) scans were performed on days 13 and 19 of her illness. The former showed radiologic findings, including ground-glass opacities (GGOs), which revealed viral pneumonia; the latter revealed that the previous lesions had been significantly absorbed. The lesions on CT scans were consistent with the changes in the course of disease. Some drugs, such as traditional Chinese medicine and arbidol, might play an important role in the recovery of COVID-19 patients. This study provides some new insights into the formulation of a timely and effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategy to cure patients with COVID-19. Keywords Coronavirus disease 2019 • Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 • Radiologic features • First cured patient Dear Editor, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has spread worldwide [1], with 5,934,936 confirmed cases as of May 31, 2020 [2]. We would describe the clinical and radiologic features of the first cured case of COVID-19 in Guangzhou, a city with hundreds of confirmed cases. On January 22, 2020, a 55-year-old woman from Wuhan was admitted to the hospital with the chief complaint of "cough for 11 days and once fever 8 days ago" on her visit in Guangzhou (Fig. 1). She reported a visit history to an elderly man with fever of unknown origin in Wuhan on January 11. After that, she had initial symptoms of dry cough, sore throat, and fatigue on January 12 (day 1 of the illness). On day 3 of the illness, she had a fever of 38 °C and went to