LAUSR

TOPIC: Critical Care TYPE: Medical Student/Resident Case Reports INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) most commonly presents with respiratory involvement. However, reports indicate that the central nervous system can also be affected. Neurological manifestations such as altered mental status, strokes, seizures, and even intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) have been noted in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION: A 28-year-old female with a past medical history of asthma presented to the emergency department (ED) with shortness of breath (SOB) that began 10 days prior. Four days earlier the patient went to urgent care for SOB and tested positive for COVID-19. She was provided an albuterol inhaler and prednisone 40 mg for five days. However, the patient's symptoms continued to worsen. In the ED, she was found to be saturating at 60% on room air. Therefore, she was placed on a non-rebreather mask and then high-flow nasal cannula at 55 liters/minutes. This improved her oxygen saturation to 90%;however, she was tachypneic with a respiratory rate of 30 bpm. Labs were significant for a pH 7.5, pCO2 28.6 mm Hg, white blood cell 16.94 x10