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The vast majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients show lung damage 6 weeks after discharge, but this proportion drops significantly after 12 weeks, suggesting that the lungs have a self-repair mechanism, researchers report.
"We know from other lung studies that lungs have the potential to recover from inflammation," said investigator Sabina Sahanic, MD, a clinical PhD student at University Clinic in Innsbruck, Austria. "Specialists knew we'd have to wait some weeks to clarify this and estimate how good the resolution is. And we are very happy to see a good resolution."
The 86-patient preliminary analysis — believed to be the first prospective study tracking lung and heart outcomes in COVID-19 patients — also showed that shortness of breath is the most common symptom 6 weeks after discharge, affecting 47% of patients, followed by coughing, affecting 15%. At 12 weeks, only 39% of patients were still experiencing shortness of breath, but 15% were still coughing.
"The 12-week timeline is particularly important because in many other lung diseases at this time point, we can estimate resolution or recovery," Sahanic told Medscape Medical News.
But "we have no definition here of what is long-term," she said.
