Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbroke in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread rapidly. Elderly patients with COVID-19 are more likely to develop into severe type, but little related experience has been introduced.
Case presentation: An 82-year-old female patient living in Wuhan, China was referred because of fever, dry cough and chest distress for a week. Clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 was considered, confirmed by viral nucleic acid detection. For her poor nutritional status and deteriorated hypoalbuminemia, intact protein enteral nutrition powder was added and albumin was supplemented besides the antiviral therapy. Her fever gradually subsided with the alleviation of related symptoms. During her hospitalization, D-dimer level elevated with ultrasonographically detected thromboembolism in bilateral gastrocnemius veins, and low molecular weight heparin was thereby administrated for the prevention of pulmonary embolism.
Conclusions: The experience of this case suggested that the timely screening and intervention of malnutrition and venous thromboembolism are crucial issues to be concerned when treating elderly patients with severe COVID-19 besides the routine antiviral therapy.