A new imaging technology allowed revealing the source of the breathing problem that accompanies those recovering from the long-term Corona virus, following this was not possible with normal tests.
In the research published in the journalradiologyLong-term COVID-19 patients have more than 200 symptoms, including dizziness, diarrhea, shortness of breath, fatigue and difficulty concentrating, which can last for months or even years.
According to the research, Covid patients who describe prolonged breathing problems show normal results on standard clinical breathing tests, says respiratory specialist Michael Nicholson, from St Joseph Health Care London.
But the new technology has now clearly revealed the source of the breathing problem.
“The results allowed us to show that there is a physiological effect on the patient’s lungs associated with their symptoms,” Nicholson says.
The scans show the enormous damage that Covid-19 infection can cause to sensitive respiratory organs. Either because of the virus itself or as a result of the body’s response to it.
The researchers, led by physicist Alexander Matheson of Western University, were able to monitor the activity of small airways and blood vessels in real time in volunteers who inhaled xenon, which shows vision under magnetic resonance imaging.
The researchers found that patients with long-term corona, even if they do not have a severe infection that requires hospitalization, have difficulty transferring oxygen to red blood cells, compared to healthy people.
Since flu-like symptoms are the most obvious and common sign of Covid-19, it is often overlooked as just another respiratory disease, but Covid is actually a disease that affects the blood vessels as well, which means that it can interfere with the blood circulation, as it targets molecules The virus is the cells that line the walls of blood vessels and the heart.
MRI scans showed damage to blood vessels, and CT scans also confirmed the presence of abnormalities in the blood vessels in the lungs of patients with the disease.
