Lung damage persists a year after suffering from Covid-19 pneumonia

• Coronavirus The 50 aftermaths of Covid after two years of pandemic

• Infectious persistent Covid, one in eight patients suffers from the sequelae of the infection

The

of the infection caused by

began to be known very shortly after the first thousands of people affected in the

occurred, and survived, especially those who suffered severe illness from Covid-19. 19.

More than fifty sequelae have already been outlined, although the list increases as more is known about the repercussions of the infection.

They affect, to a greater or lesser extent, almost

, but perhaps it is the

in which, for the moment, the future repercussions could be more disabling.

In this line, and according to a study carried out by professionals from the Pneumology Service of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, which investigates

Covid-19 survivors, it shows that, indeed, the

. suffering from pneumonia derived from Covid-19.

The study, called

, has been carried out on a clinical cohort of more than

the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the

and who were treated at the aforementioned hospital.

Its results are published in the Open Forum Infectious Diseases and it is "the first to study the long-term effects, on

,

and

in patients with severe infection and mild-moderate infection one year after the infection",

, principal investigator of the study and head of the Pneumology Service of the aforementioned hospital, tells DM.

Although there were data on the potential sequelae analyzed in the

, to date, few reports had described long-term sequelae in Covid survivors.

This work focused on lung function has been carried out with a one

;

These are patients who were infected in the first wave of the pandemic and who have been followed up until September 2021.

"Patients

with

who have survived have been analyzed, as well as those who were hospitalized for

, but who did not require ventilatory support."

Signs evidenced

The results of this clinical investigation - in whose development the Intensive Medicine and Preventive Medicine services of the same hospital have also participated - indicate that symptoms such as

and

persisted

after the infection, "in more than

But, perhaps, the most remarkable thing is that

who

had

disease and who had required admission to the ICU, presented radiological alterations of

, as well as impairment of lung function: a decrease in

at pulmonary level", indicates the pulmonologist.

Thus, 12 months after infection, most patients continue to report symptoms, particularly

, and almost a third of patients with severe covid-19 pneumonia had

and abnormalities in the radiological images of the chest 12 months after the infection.

One year after SARS-CoV-2 infection, the study found the resolution of

in 37.9% of the patients who suffered from severe/critical pneumonia compared to 27.3% in the moderate pneumonia.

Pulmonary function tests performed at 12-month follow-up detected

in 31.4% of patients with a severe course of covid-19 and in 27.7% of non-severe patients.

Chest radiological imaging

were also detected in

and/or critical versus non-severe infection (29% versus 8.8%, respectively).

One of the conclusions that professionals draw from this study is that when Covid is

,

of those affected will develop long-term complications.

However,

of those who have suffered a

illness and have required intensive care or ventilatory support, present

and "probably persistent" scope after a year.

Achieve two-year data

However, and although the

, without published data, since it has not been completed, "there is also the perception that some of them, although the manifestations have not been resolved, could improve.

".

The next step for the Hospital Clínic team is, therefore, to be able to

at two years, with the same cohort, and to analyze the

-improvement, resolution, stabilization or worsening- of this third of patients who have developed pulmonary sequelae per year.

The

of people who present long-term sequelae are linked to the same factors that are associated with severe Covid pneumonia:

, but also comorbidities such as a

, as well as the

, as observed in the cohort of this work.

For Calle, these results underline the importance of

-up after Covid-19, since chronic pulmonary sequelae are frequent, especially "for seriously ill patients and in specific monographic consultations".

In the first wave, and given the limited resources available, the patient was discharged and did not undergo adequate follow-up.

"Monographic follow-up consultations are very important since we must not forget that some of these patients

derived from these sequelae and that interfere with their daily life. In our cohort, for example, three patients required

and many of them, who before Covid led a completely normal life, need

The fundamental treatment in this type of case is the

to try to recover the musculature.

"Many of the symptoms of dyspnea that patients refer are not only related to pulmonary involvement but to muscle involvement. Therefore,

is of great help," says Calle.

therapy has been started

;

new drugs used for pulmonary fibrosis, with

.

"There is no specific treatment. In the acute phase, corticosteroids are administered, but for this longer-term stage, the strategy is based on

.

In any case, the specialist stresses that these manifestations

;

.

"The 'long-covid' refers to a patient who persists with symptoms, but there is no evidence of organic damage that justifies these symptoms. And, in this case,

, just like patients with other severe pneumonia caused by other virus".

Since the start of the pandemic, the Clinic's Pneumology Service

, making it a national and international benchmark in the treatment of this infection and its associated pathologies.

In addition, to evaluate its chronic pulmonary sequelae, it created a

, in which it has treated some

.

Like other respiratory illnesses, Covid-19 can have significant negative effects on the lungs.

"As we continue to learn more about this disease, we begin to better understand

, even after people recover," says Calle.

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