1. Residual respiratory impairment after COVID-19 pneumonia
- Author
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Lombardi, Francesco, Calabrese, Angelo, Iovene, Bruno, Pierandrei, Chiara, Lerede, Marialessia, Varone, Francesco, Richeldi, Luca, Sgalla, Giacomo, Landi, Francesco, Gremese, Elisa, Bernabei, Roberto, Fantoni, Massimo, Gasbarrini, Antonio, Settanni, Carlo Romano, Benvenuto, Francesca, Bramato, Giulia, Carfi', Angelo, Ciciarello, Francesca, Lo Monaco, Maria Rita, Martone, Anna Maria, Marzetti, Emanuele, Carmen, Napolitano, Pagano, Francesco Cosimo, Rocchi, Sara, Rota, Elisabetta, Salerno, Andrea, Tosato, Matteo, Tritto, Marcello, Calvani, Riccardo, Catalano, Lucio, Anna, Picca, Giulia, Savera, Tamburrini, Enrica, Borghetti, Alberto, Simona Di Gianbenedetto, Murri, Rita, Cingolani, Antonella, Ventura, Giulio, Taddei, Eleonora, Davide, Moschese, Arturo, Ciccullo, Stella, Leonardo, Addolorato, Giovanni, Franceschi, Francesco, Gertrude, Mingrone, Zocco, Maria Assunta, Mauirizio, Sanguinetti, Cattani Franchi, Paola, Marchetti, Simona, Alessandro, Bizzarro, Lauria, Alessandra, Rizzo, Stanislao, Savastano, Maria Cristina, Gambini, Gloria, Maria Grazia Cozzupoli, Culiersi, Carola, Passali, Giulio Cesare, Paludetti, Gaetano, Galli, Jacopo, Crudo, Fabrizio, Giovanni Di Cintio, Ylenia, Longobardi, Laura, Tricarico, Santantonio, Mariaconsiglia, Buonsenso, Danilo, Valentini, Piero, Davide, Pata, Davide, Sinatti, De Rose, Cristina, Aangelo, Calabrese, Sani, Gabriele, Delfina, Janiri, Giulia, Giuseppin, Marzia, Molinaro, Modica, Marco, Natale, Luigi, Larici, Anna Rita, Marano, Riccardo, Annamaria, Paglionico, Petricca, Luca, Laura, Gigante, Gerlando, Natalello, Fedele, Anna Laura, Lizzio, Marco Maria, Santoliquido, Angelo, Santoro, Luca, Nesci, Antonio, and Valentina, Popolla
- Subjects
Male ,Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine ,Percent Predicted Total Lung Capacity ,Settore M-PSI/02 - PSICOBIOLOGIA E PSICOLOGIA FISIOLOGICA ,Partial Pressure ,Pneumonia, Viral ,Walk Test ,030204 cardiovascular system & hematology ,dyspnoea ,Severity of Illness Index ,Pulmonary function testing ,Diseases of the respiratory system ,03 medical and health sciences ,PFT ,0302 clinical medicine ,Percent Predicted Residual Volume ,DLCO ,cough ,Diffusing capacity ,6MWT ,Humans ,Medicine ,Respiratory function ,Lung volumes ,Aged ,COVID ,Carbon Monoxide ,Exercise Tolerance ,RC705-779 ,SARS-CoV-2 ,business.industry ,Research ,Settore MED/09 - MEDICINA INTERNA ,COVID-19 ,Middle Aged ,Oxygen ,Residual Volume ,Dyspnea ,030228 respiratory system ,Respiratory failure ,Anesthesia ,Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity ,Female ,ABG ,Blood Gas Analysis ,business - Abstract
Introduction The novel coronavirus SARS-Cov-2 can infect the respiratory tract causing a spectrum of disease varying from mild to fatal pneumonia, and known as COVID-19. Ongoing clinical research is assessing the potential for long-term respiratory sequelae in these patients. We assessed the respiratory function in a cohort of patients after recovering from SARS-Cov-2 infection, stratified according to PaO2/FiO2 (p/F) values. Method Approximately one month after hospital discharge, 86 COVID-19 patients underwent physical examination, arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis, pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and six-minute walk test (6MWT). Patients were also asked to quantify the severity of dyspnoea and cough before, during, and after hospitalization using a visual analogic scale (VAS). Seventy-six subjects with ABG during hospitalization were stratified in three groups according to their worst p/F values: above 300 (n = 38), between 200 and 300 (n = 30) and below 200 (n = 20). Results On PFTs, lung volumes were overall preserved yet, mean percent predicted residual volume was slightly reduced (74.8 ± 18.1%). Percent predicted diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO) was also mildly reduced (77.2 ± 16.5%). Patients reported residual breathlessness at the time of the visit (VAS 19.8, p Conclusion Approximately one month after hospital discharge, patients with COVID-19 can have residual respiratory impairment, including lower exercise tolerance. The extent of this impairment seems to correlate with the severity of respiratory failure during hospitalization.
- Published
- 2021