• Anya Costeloe, Mohammad-Nadim Samad, Seilesh Babu, and Christopher Metz.
• Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital, Warren, Michigan, USA.
• Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2021 Jul 1; 165 (1): 89-92.

AbstractThis study compares nasopharyngeal and tracheal samples for COVID-19 viral testing in patients with a tracheostomy. This was a prospective cohort study done at 2 academic hospitals between March and June 2020. Patients admitted through the emergency department who had a COVID-19 test and an existing tracheostomy or underwent a tracheostomy during the admission period were included. Patients with a positive initial nasopharyngeal swab were placed in the experimental group (n = 8), while those with a negative swab were the control group (n = 7). Nasopharyngeal and tracheal samples underwent COVID-19 testing using the Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 RNA assay. Fourteen patients underwent tracheostomy, and 1 had an existing tracheostomy. The average duration of viral shedding in nasopharyngeal samples was 20.9 days. One patient (6.7%) tested positive in tracheal secretions after a negative nasopharyngeal swab. In the remaining patients (93.3%), the nasopharyngeal and tracheal specimens correlated.

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