News Scan for Mar 30, 2022

Most COVID pneumonia survivors had lung anomalies at 1 year: studyAmong 91 COVID-19 pneumonia survivors in Austria, 54% had lung abnormalities on computed tomography (CT) imaging 1 year after symptom onset, suggests an observational study yesterday in Radiology.A team led by University of Innsbruck researchers evaluated the chest CTs of the 91 patients 2, 3, 6, and 12 months after COVID-19 symptom onset.

It was a secondary analysis of a prospective, observational, multicenter study conducted from Apr 29 to Aug 12, 2020. Average patient age was 59 years, and 38% were women.CT abnormalities were seen in 54% of participants, including 34% with patterns of subtle subpleural reticulation (interlacing lines resembling a net) or ground-glass opacities (hazy areas), or both.

Twenty percent had extensive ground-glass opacities, reticulations, bronchial dilation, and/or microsystic (abnormally small red blood cells) changes.Multivariable analysis showed that age older than 60 years (odds ratio [OR], 5.8), severe COVID-19 illness (OR, 29.0), and male sex (OR, 8.9) were tied to CT abnormalities at 1 year.

Lower qualitative CT severity score was seen during subsequent CTs. Over the study period, 44% of patients experienced complete resolution of their CT abnormalities, while 63% saw no further improvement beyond 6 months."Our results emphasize early and longitudinal monitoring of COVID-19 participants," the study authors wrote. "Unfortunately, there is still an urgent need for further studies focusing on histological and clinical correlations within the first three months after COVID-19 to identify participants at risk for developing CT abnormalities and who would benefit from early tailored therapeutic concepts."Mar 29 Radiology stu