Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness

December 7, 2020

Clinical Status and Lung Function 10 Weeks after Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Category:

Topic:

Keywords (Tags):

54% of 220 patients who recovered from COVID-19 had abnormal lung function 10 weeks after diagnosis in a study using chest CT, pulmonary function testing, and COVID-19 symptoms in Belgium. Restrictive pulmonary impairment was the most common type of lung function impairment observed (38%) and was associated with longer hospital stay (8 vs 6 days), admission to the intensive care unit (27% vs 13%), and invasive mechanical ventilation (10% vs 0.7%), but not with symptom score or CT abnormality score at baseline and follow-up, compared to those without restrictive pulmonary impairment.

Smet et al. (Jan 2021). Clinical Status and Lung Function 10 Weeks after Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Respiratory Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmed.2020.106276