• Mirza Muhammad Ayub Baig, Muhammad Adnan, Muhammad Usman Baig, and Zohaib Ramzan.
• Mirza Muhammad Ayub Baig, Department of Pulmonology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2023 Jul 1; 39 (4): 103510391035-1039.

ObjectivesTo assess the late-onset pulmonary complications among survivors of coronavirus disease 2019.MethodsThe cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the department of Pulmonology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore between October 2020 and March 2021. Total 288 patients visiting the hospital 12-week after recovery from COVID-19 enrolled using convenience sampling. After excluding patients (n=61) with a history of previous respiratory symptoms before the development of COVID-19, data from 227 patients was subjected to final analysis. Chest X-ray (CXR) was used to evaluate lung condition.ResultsParticipation of middle-aged adults (54.6%) was higher than older (38.3%) and young adults (7.0%). The percentage of males was 55.5% and smokers was 29.1%. Dyspnea was the most common complication as 80.0% patients had moderate to severe dyspnea while chronic cough was 78.0% and lung fibrosis (LF) was 13.2%. The chances of LF increased with the rise in age (p-value 0.033). However, the distribution of LF was similar between males and females. The frequency of lung fibrosis in smokers was 3-time higher than among non-smokers (24.2 vs. 8.7%; p-value 0.003). The patients with LF were more dependent on O2 as compared to the patients without LF (p-value < 0.001). The frequency of tachycardia was significantly different between patients with and without LF (all p-values < 0.05).ConclusionLF is a common late-onset pulmonary complication of COVID-19 and is associated with old age, smoking, O2 dependency, tachycardia, and severe dyspnea.Copyright: © Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences.

6 keywords...

hide…