Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37483750›Full record

ArticleHeliyon2023

COVID-19 and severe pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP): A case report.

Ahmad Basim Melhem, Abdelsamea Mohammed Seif, Omar Husni Omar, Samir Al Bashir, Shaher M Samrah

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Heliyon, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Cause of Death Analysis in a 9½-Year-Old with COVID-19 and Dravet Syndrome.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Ahmad Basim MelhemDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, PO Box: 630001, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
Abdelsamea Mohammed SeifDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, PO Box: 630001, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
Omar Husni OmarDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, PO Box: 630001, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
Samir Al BashirDepartment of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, PO Box: 630001, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
Shaher M SamrahDepartment of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, PO Box: 630001, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
Jordan University of Science and Technology · JO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare lung disease that mainly presents with dyspnea. PAP diagnosis can be easily missed in the background of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, due to the similarity of their presentation and radiological findings. We present a case report of a post-COVID-19 patient, who later developed severe PAP. Case presentation: A 55-year-old male patient presented to the emergency department with progressive exertional dyspnea and hypoxia following a COVID-19 infection. Chest X-ray showed severe bilateral infiltrates. Patient received multiple courses of broad-spectrum antibiotics and prolonged course of corticosteroids without improvement. "Crazy paving" appearance in a follow up chest computed tomography raised the suspicion of PAP of what was initially thought to be a post-COVID-19 syndrome presentation. A diagnostic segmental bronchioalveolar lavage with a lung biopsy revealed a proteinaceous material filling the alveoli, with a positive periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain. Due to severe hypoxia, therapeutic segmental followed by whole lung lavage was performed with significant improvement. Conclusion: Diagnosing PAP is challenging due to the rarity of the disease. An accurate diagnosis of PAP requires a combination of medical history, imaging, and bronchoalveolar lavage staining positive for PAS. Decision whether to treat with a segmental or whole lung lavage is individualized to each patient. Further studies are needed to confirm whether COVID-19 or long-term use of steroids might be contributing to PAP.

Indexed as

Bronchioalveolar lavageCOVID-19Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis

Identifiers

PMID37483750
PMCPMC10362237
OpenAlexW4383532491

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.