Pulmonary Function and Radiologic Features in Survivors of Critical COVID-19: A 3-Month Prospective Cohort.
Chest
; 160(1): 187-198, 2021 07.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1290546
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
More than 20% of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 demonstrate ARDS requiring ICU admission. The long-term respiratory sequelae in such patients remain unclear. RESEARCH QUESTION What are the major long-term pulmonary sequelae in critical patients who survive COVID-19? STUDY DESIGN ANDMETHODS:
Consecutive patients with COVID-19 requiring ICU admission were recruited and evaluated 3 months after hospitalization discharge. The follow-up comprised symptom and quality of life, anxiety and depression questionnaires, pulmonary function tests, exercise test (6-min walking test [6MWT]), and chest CT imaging.RESULTS:
One hundred twenty-five patients admitted to the ICU with ARDS secondary to COVID-19 were recruited between March and June 2020. At the 3-month follow-up, 62 patients were available for pulmonary evaluation. The most frequent symptoms were dyspnea (46.7%) and cough (34.4%). Eighty-two percent of patients showed a lung diffusing capacity of less than 80%. The median distance in the 6MWT was 400 m (interquartile range, 362-440 m). CT scans showed abnormal results in 70.2% of patients, demonstrating reticular lesions in 49.1% and fibrotic patterns in 21.1%. Patients with more severe alterations on chest CT scan showed worse pulmonary function and presented more degrees of desaturation in the 6MWT. Factors associated with the severity of lung damage on chest CT scan were age and length of invasive mechanical ventilation during the ICU stay.INTERPRETATION:
Three months after hospital discharge, pulmonary structural abnormalities and functional impairment are highly prevalent in patients with ARDS secondary to COVID-19 who required an ICU stay. Pulmonary evaluation should be considered for all critical COVID-19 survivors 3 months after discharge.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Quality of Life
/
Respiratory Function Tests
/
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
/
Survivors
/
Long Term Adverse Effects
/
COVID-19
/
Lung
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Chest
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS