Endoscopy | 2021
Potential use of a novel telemetric sensor capsule in patients with suspected gastrointestinal bleeding during the COVID-19 pandemic
Abstract
Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy during the COVID-19 pandemic carries a risk of disease transmission [1, 2]. The HemoPill (Ovesco Endoscopy, Tübingen, Germany) is composed of an orally administered telemetric sensor capsule that is capable of detecting blood and hematin, and a wireless receiver for data display [3–5]. Results are expressed as the HemoPill indicator (HI). A HI value ≥0.8 during the first 10 minutes of the examination or ≥1.0 thereafter denotes a positive test result. We evaluated this sensor capsule in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. Case #1 was a patient with COVID-19, congestive heart failure, and severe obesity who reported melena and had a drop of hemoglobin from 14.6g/dL to 11.3g/ dL. She required low-flow oxygen but was otherwise clinically stable. The maximum HI value was 1.0 after 89 minutes (▶Fig. 1a). Endoscopy subsequently showed a gastric ulcer with a non-bleeding visible vessel (▶Fig. 1b). Patient #2 suffered from dyspnea and anemia (hemoglobin 4.3g/dL) with possible gastrointestinal bleeding. She was routinely tested for SARS-CoV-2 and isolated until receipt of her result. The COVID-19 communication