• Thomas Sonnweber, Sabina Sahanic, Alex Pizzini, Anna Luger, Christoph Schwabl, Bettina Sonnweber, Katharina Kurz, Sabine Koppelstätter, David Haschka, Verena Petzer, Anna Boehm, Magdalena Aichner, Piotr Tymoszuk, Daniela Lener, Markus Theurl, Almut Lorsbach-Köhler, Amra Tancevski, Anna Schapfl, Marc Schaber, Richard Hilbe, Manfred Nairz, Bernhard Puchner, Doris Hüttenberger, Christoph Tschurtschenthaler, Malte Aßhoff, Andreas Peer, Frank Hartig, Romuald Bellmann, Michael Joannidis, Can Gollmann-Tepeköylü, Johannes Holfeld, Gudrun Feuchtner, Alexander Egger, Gregor Hoermann, Andrea Schroll, Gernot Fritsche, Sophie Wildner, Rosa Bellmann-Weiler, Rudolf Kirchmair, Raimund Helbok, Helmut Prosch, Dietmar Rieder, Zlatko Trajanoski, Florian Kronenberg, Ewald Wöll, Günter Weiss, Gerlig Widmann, Judith Löffler-Ragg, and Ivan Tancevski.
• Dept of Internal Medicine II, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
• Eur. Respir. J. 2021 Apr 1; 57 (4).

BackgroundAfter the 2002/2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak, 30% of survivors exhibited persisting structural pulmonary abnormalities. The long-term pulmonary sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are yet unknown, and comprehensive clinical follow-up data are lacking.MethodsIn this prospective, multicentre, observational study, we systematically evaluated the cardiopulmonary damage in subjects recovering from COVID-19 at 60 and 100 days after confirmed diagnosis. We conducted a detailed questionnaire, clinical examination, laboratory testing, lung function analysis, echocardiography and thoracic low-dose computed tomography (CT).ResultsData from 145 COVID-19 patients were evaluated, and 41% of all subjects exhibited persistent symptoms 100 days after COVID-19 onset, with dyspnoea being most frequent (36%). Accordingly, patients still displayed an impaired lung function, with a reduced diffusing capacity in 21% of the cohort being the most prominent finding. Cardiac impairment, including a reduced left ventricular function or signs of pulmonary hypertension, was only present in a minority of subjects. CT scans unveiled persisting lung pathologies in 63% of patients, mainly consisting of bilateral ground-glass opacities and/or reticulation in the lower lung lobes, without radiological signs of pulmonary fibrosis. Sequential follow-up evaluations at 60 and 100 days after COVID-19 onset demonstrated a vast improvement of symptoms and CT abnormalities over time.ConclusionA relevant percentage of post-COVID-19 patients presented with persisting symptoms and lung function impairment along with radiological pulmonary abnormalities >100 days after the diagnosis of COVID-19. However, our results indicate a significant improvement in symptoms and cardiopulmonary status over time.Copyright ©ERS 2021.

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