Lung Infection Illustration Posted on 03/15/2022 8:12:47 AM PDT by Red Badger
Lung Infection Illustration
Disease of the small airways in the lungs is a potential long-lasting effect of COVID-19, according to a new study published in the journal Radiology. The study found that small airways disease occurred independently of initial infection severity. The long-term consequences are unknown.
“There is some disease happening in the small airways independent of the severity of COVID-19,” said study senior author Alejandro P. Comellas, M.D., professor of internal medicine and faculty in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa in Iowa City. “We need to investigate further to see whether it is transient or more permanent.”
Early reports indicate that more than 50% of adult survivors of SARS-CoV-2 infection experience post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC), more commonly known as “long COVID.” Respiratory symptoms, including cough and dyspnea, are reported by nearly 30% of patients with long COVID, including those who experienced mild infection.
The study grew out of observations from University of Iowa clinicians that many patients with initial SARS-CoV-2 infection who were either hospitalized or treated in the ambulatory setting later showed signs of chronic lung disease such as shortness of breath and other respiratory symptoms.
Dr. Comellas and colleagues put a protocol in place to perform both inspiratory and expiratory CT in these patients. Inspiratory CT, performed after patients inhale, is the standard imaging technique for viewing lung tissue, but post-exhalation expiratory scans are needed to assess air trapping, a condition in which people are not able to empty their lungs when they breathe out. Air trapping is found in many obstructive airway diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
For the study, the researchers compared CT findings in people who had COVID-19 and persistent symptoms with those of a healthy control group. They enrolled 100 adults with confirmed COVID-19 who had remained symptomatic more than 30 days following diagnosis, along with 106 healthy participants. The 100 COVID-19 survivors, median age 48 years, included 67 who were classified as ambulatory, or not requiring hospitalization, 17 who were hospitalized, and 16 who required care in the intensive care unit (ICU) during acute infection.
The researchers detected air trapping on expiratory chest CT images in the COVID-19 group. The mean percentage of total lung affected by air trapping ranged from slightly more than 25% in the ambulatory group to almost 35% in the hospitalized group, compared with only 7.2% in healthy controls. Air trapping persisted in eight of the nine participants who underwent imaging more than 200 days after diagnosis.
These imaging results show a high prevalence of long-lasting air trapping, regardless of the initial severity of infection.
Quantitative analysis of expiratory chest CT images, performed with the help of a sophisticated type of artificial intelligence known as supervised machine learning, showed evidence of small airways disease. While small airways disease is not fully understood, evidence suggests it may be related to either inflammation or remodeling of the small airways that prevents air from being able to be exhaled from the lungs.
“For the first time, we’re describing small airways disease in this population of COVID-19 patients with persistent symptoms,” Dr. Comellas said. “Something is going on in the distal airways related to either inflammation or fibrosis that is giving us a signal of air trapping.”
The median time from diagnosis to chest CT imaging was approximately 75 days. The researchers noted that persistence of respiratory abnormalities in this timeframe raises concern for permanent airway remodeling and fibrosis following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Dr. Comellas and colleagues intend to follow the patients in the study registry and see how many improve and recover and how many remain with abnormal findings.
“If a portion of patients continues to have small airways disease, then we need to think about the mechanisms behind it,” he said. “It could be something related to inflammation that’s reversible, or it may be something related to a scar that is irreversible, and then we need to look at ways to prevent further progression of the disease.”
Reference: “Quantitative Chest CT Assessment of Small Airways Disease in Post-Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection” 15 March 2022, Radiology.
Collaborating with Dr. Comellas were Josalyn L. Cho, M.D., Raul A. Villacreses, M.D., Prashant Nagpal, M.D., Junfeng Guo, Ph.D., Alejandro A. Pezzulo, M.D., Andrew L. Thurman, Ph.D., Nabeel Y. Hamzeh, M.D., Robert J. Blount, M.D., M.A.S., Spyridon Fortis, M.D., Eric A. Hoffman, Ph.D., and Joseph Zabner, M.D.
“We need to investigate further to see whether it is transient or more permanent.”
The lungs inflate, right? And we all know such inflation is transient. So why is more study needed?
And how many of the sufferers of the long ‘covid’ disease have been injected, and with what lot numbers? In order to have informed consent, the details matter.
“If a portion of patients continues to have small airways disease, then we need to think about the mechanisms behind it,”
not to worry; just keep putting masks on young children and the problems will go away for these afflicted patients...
Small airways disease is likely due to presence/damage from the spike protein. Maybe it heals one day, maybe not. Mine is slowly getting better but I get pneumonia with every cold. I have to keep a stash of Ciprofloxacin to eliminate the delay between a Dr visit and treatment.
Perhaps we should all consider a baseline D-Dimer test to check our inflammation levels if symptoms show.
It should be required for youth sports, with intermittent testing during the season.
Articles like this make me even more thankful that God gave me the guts to quit smoking in 1999.
I had the ‘rona in January, it was mostly just a cold, but here I am 2 months later with a mild lingering cough I can’t shake.
I’m doing extended fasts for autophagy and deep breathing exercises. Seems like the best way to clear up damaged tissues.
That’s because the cause is coming through the bloodstream into the alveoli and not through respiration.
This is why it causes a dry cough and not an upper respiratory infection.
This is also why the anti virals in the bloodstream work well as long as they are introduced prior to a respiratory infection developing.
In my humble opinion based upon observation.
Long COVID or the Jim Jones Jab? Who would trust anyone in the medical community?
bfl
They both do the same thing..........
After recovering again in November I have actually been breathing easier than I have in a long time. And sinus issues went away. Maybe it was the ivermectin (come and get me DHS) and the FLCCC treatment I followed.
Everybody at work that got Omicron in January had a persistent cough. I took Ivermectin to get rid of it. 24mg, 4x at day.
NAC might protect against this.
“Ivermectin to get rid of it. 24mg, 4x at day.”
I don’t believe there is any basis for dosing ivermectin so frequently. Where did you get the idea to do that?
Clot shot side effects?
“I don’t believe there is any basis for dosing ivermectin so frequently. Where did you get the idea to do that?”
Yeah, there is so much published and available literature on Ivermectin dosing /S. Not like there’s an information blackout or misleading propaganda or anything.
My basis is what worked. I had noticeable improvements within 45 mins. so I kept it up. My body, my money and my health are my choice.
Too much fraud and corruption to wait for official notification of cheap and effective treatments.
“I had noticeable improvements within 45 mins.”
Imagination.
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