Comparison of the clinical course of COVID-19 pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome in 2 passengers from the cruise ship diamond princess in February 2020

Objective: Rare disease Background: Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona-virus 2 can rapidly progress to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Because clinical diagnosis of ARDS includes several diseases, understanding the characteristics of COVID-19-related ARDS is necessary for precise treatment. We report 2 patients with ARDS due to COVID-19-associated pneumonia. Case Report: Case 1 involved a 72-year-old Japanese man who presented with respiratory distress and fever. Computed to-mography (CT) revealed subpleural ground-glass opacities (GGOs) and consolidation. Six days after symptom onset, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing confirmed the diagnosis of COVID-19-associated pneumonia. He was intubated and received veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) 8 days after symptom onset. Follow-up CT revealed large diffuse areas with a crazy-paving pattern and consolidation, which indicated progression of COVID-19-associated pneumonia. Following treatment with an-tiviral medications and supportive measures, the patient was weaned off ECMO after 20 days. Case 2 involved a 70-year-old Asian man residing in Canada who presented with cough, malaise, nausea, vom-iting, and fever. COVID-19-associated pneumonia was diagnosed based on a positive result from RT-PCR test-ing. The patient was then transferred to the intensive care unit and intubated 8 days after symptom onset. Follow-up CT showed that while the initial subpleural GGOs had improved, diffuse GGOs appeared, similar to those observed upon diffuse alveolar damage. He was administered systemic steroid therapy for ARDS and ex-tubated after 6 days. Conclusions: Because the pattern of symptom exacerbation in COVID-19-associated pneumonia cases seems inconsistent, individual treatment management, especially the CT-based treatment strategy, is crucial.