Figure 10c.
COVID-19 pneumonia complicated by mucus plugging and lung collapse in a 78-year-old man who presented with shortness of breath and suspicion of PE. Axial (a) and coronal (b, c) chest CT angiographic images show patchy GGOs (arrowheads in b) on the right and left lung opacification with volume loss in the left upper lobe due to atelectasis. Adjacent atelectasis and pneumonia in the left upper and lower lobes are evidenced by enhancement of the atelectatic lung (black arrow in c) and absence of enhancement within the pneumonic consolidation (white arrow in c). Atelectasis was caused by the presence of thick mucus that resulted in bronchial obstruction and subsequent collapse.