2023-09-23 10:06:14
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Caption,
Research on covid continues in different scientific groups.
Article information
People living with long Covid, following being hospitalized, are more likely to have some damage to their major organs, according to a new study carried out in the United Kingdom.
MRIs revealed that patients were three times more likely to have some abnormalities in multiple organs, including the lungs, brain and kidneys.
Researchers believe there is a link to the severity with which the disease developed in these patients.
It is hoped that this study will help advance more effective treatments for long Covid.
The research was published in Lancet Respiratory Medicine and analyzed 259 patients who, due to the virus, had to be hospitalized.
Five months following being discharged, MRIs of their major organs showed some significant differences compared to a group of 52 people who had never had Covid.
Other factors
The biggest impact was seen in the lungs, where tests were 14 times more likely to show abnormalities.
MRI scans were also three times more likely to show some abnormalities in the brain (and twice as likely in the kidneys) among people who had had severe Covid.
There were no significant differences in heart or liver health.
image copyrightREUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Caption,
Many people, following contracting covid, had to be hospitalized due to the severity of the symptoms they presented. (File photo: 2022)
Dr Betty Raman, from the University of Oxford and one of the study’s lead researchers, says it is clear that those living with long Covid symptoms are more likely to have experienced some damage to certain organs.
“Five months following being discharged from the hospital, for Covid, we found more abnormalities in the lungs, brain and kidneys in those patients than in the group who had never had Covid.”
“The age of the patient, the severity of their Covid illness, and whether they were suffering from other illnesses at the same time were important factors in determining whether or not we found damage to these important organs in the body.”
New treatments
The findings are part of a larger study looking at the long-term effects of Covid on those who were hospitalized, known as the Phosp-Covid study.
The researchers found that some symptoms coincided with signs of organ damage revealed by MRIs, for example, tightness in the chest and cough with abnormalities in the lungs.
However, not all symptoms experienced by those living with long Covid might be directly related to what was seen in the tests.
Raman notes that it also appears that abnormalities in more than one organ were more common among people who had been admitted to hospital and still reported physical and mental health problems following recovering from the initial infection.
image source, REUTERS/Diego Vara
Caption,
Patients in different parts of the world have reported suffering from so-called long covid. (File photo: 2022)
“What we are seeing is that people with multi-organ pathology on MRI, that is, who had more than two organs affected, were four times more likely to report severe and very severe physical and mental impairment.”
“Our findings also highlight the need for longer-term multidisciplinary follow-up services focused on pulmonary and extrapulmonary health (kidney, brain and mental health), particularly for those who were hospitalized with Covid.”
Professor Chris Brightling, from the University of Leicester, who leads the Phosp-Covid study, says the research is part of a wider effort to understand the group of different symptoms that make up the syndrome known as long Covid.
“This detailed whole-body imaging study confirms that changes are seen in multiple organs months following being hospitalized for Covid.”
“The Phosp-Covid study is working to understand why this is happening and how we can develop tests and new treatments for long Covid.”
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