Extensive changes in the lungs of severely ill corona patients

Healthy lungs look black on x-rays because they are filled with air. At the beginning of a pneumonia you can see blurred white spots consisting of fluid and various types of immune system cells. In the case of deterioration the stains become even whiter.

- The strong inflammation is the body's immune response to the infection, explains Magnus Gisslén, professor of infectious diseases and chief physician at the Infection Clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

When this happens, it becomes difficult to breathe and then has to lie in a respirator that depresses oxygen in the lungs.

In common bacterial pneumonia you get white spots that are often confined to one part of one lung.

But when American doctors at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York analyzed 121 X-ray images of Chinese patients' lungs, they discovered something unusual.

Patients who had received pneumonia of the coronavirus had white blurred patches in clusters on the edges of both lungs at the ribs.

"It's a distinct pattern," radiologist Adam Bernheim told the Los Angeles Times.

Swedish doctors have seen a similar pattern in Swedish corona patients.

- It is exciting that we can understand more about how the lungs are attacked in both corona and other epidemics. The pattern of the white spots may be used to identify the patient's disease, says Sven Nyrén, chief physician and associate professor of thoracic radiology at Karolinska University Hospital.

According to WHO, it takes three to six weeks to recover if you have become seriously ill in covid-19.

- These patients are different from others who are in a respirator with pneumonia. They seem to need fairly long-term intensive care, says Magnus Gisslén.

He points out that most of the corona patients who are cared for in the respirator actually survive.

- It is a very difficult situation, but most people can do it if you are not really old or seriously ill otherwise.

There are reports that patients have had scars on their lungs, but it is still unclear how many people will have permanent damage.