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A team from the Internal Medicine II Clinic of the University of Innsbruck around its director Günter Weiss discovered in a study with 86 patients with a crown that a large part of the pulmonary changes caused by the disease are reversible. However, 55 percent of hospitalized Covid-19 patients would continue to show physical disabilities six weeks after being discharged from the hospital.
Long-term effects study
As part of the study, the long-term effects of Covid-19 were examined for the first time in hospitalized patients, the Innsbruck Medical University announced on Monday. The study included 86 patients, 70 percent of them men, between the ages of 50 and 70 who had been treated at the Innsbruck University Hospital, the Zams Hospital and the Münster Rehabilitation Center. The subjects were overweight or obese on average, 44 percent were former smokers, and a significant proportion had prior cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or hypercholesterolemia.
Shortness of breath and cough
“55 percent of hospitalized Covid-19 patients showed persistent physical deterioration even six weeks after being discharged from the hospital,” said lung specialist Judith Löffler-Ragg, describing one of the study’s key results. First, in almost 50 percent, there was shortness of breath during exercise, 15 percent complained of a persistent cough. Basically, the patients described a higher than average recovery phase, but the intensity of the symptoms would have improved significantly throughout the year.
Altered lungs
On CT exams six weeks after discharge from the hospital, 88 percent of the patients showed mild to moderate persistent structural changes in the lungs. However, these regressed significantly in most patients over time. There is currently no evidence of progressive lung damage, such as increased scarring. It is still not possible to answer completely if the changes in the lungs subside completely.
Improvements through rehabilitation
“Initial experience shows that deterioration in lung function diagnosed at discharge from the clinic can be significantly improved with specific long-term rehabilitation therapy. Consequently, it is likely that a large part of pulmonary changes are reversible processes.” explained Sabina Sahanic of the study team. Therefore, the study directors emphasized the need for structured follow-up care for critically ill patients.
Doctors in Innsbruck now also want to analyze the further course of recovery after six and twelve months through follow-up examinations. The study results were presented Monday at the Congress of the European Respiratory Society (ERS).
