Extract
On the 11th of March 2020, the World Health Organisation(WHO) declared the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) as a pandemic. As of 22 April, more than 2.4 million cases have been confirmed worldwide [1]. In light of the widely documented lung injuries related with COVID-19 [2–3], concerns are raised regarding the assessment of the lung injury for discharged patients. A recent report portrayed that discharged patients with COVID-19 pneumonia are still having residual abnormalities in chest CT scans, with ground-glass opacity as the most common pattern [4]. Persistent impairment of pulmonary function and exercise capacity have been known to last for months or even years [5–8] in the recovered survivors with other coronavirus pneumonia (severe acute respiratory syndrome/SARS and middle east respiratory syndrome/MERS). However, until now, there is no report in regard to pulmonary function in discharged COVID-19 survivors. Our manuscript aims to describe the characteristics of pulmonary function in these subjects.
Abstract
In discharged survivors with COVID-19, impairment of diffusion capacity is the most common abnormality of lung function followed by restrictive ventilatory defect, which are both associated with the severity of the disease. Pulmonary function test (not onl
Acknowledgement
We thank the hospital staffs for their efforts in collecting the data. We also thank Weijie Guan, MD, Yi Gao, MD, Zhe Zhang, MD, Jinping Zheng, MD and Guangqiao Zeng, MD (First affiliated hospital of Guangzhou Medical University) for critical opinion. None of these individuals received compensation for their contributions.
Footnotes
Author Contributions: Drs S Li, R Chen and N Zhong contributed equally as senior authors. Drs S Li, R Chen and N Zhong had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Concept and design: X Mo, R Chen, S Li.
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: X Mo, W Jian, Z Su, M Chen, H Peng, P Peng, C Lei, R Chen, S Li
Drafting of the manuscript: X Mo, W Jian, Z Su, R Chen
Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: C Lei, N Zhong
Support statement: The study funders/sponsors had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Mo has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Jian has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Su has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Chen has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Peng has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Peng has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Lei has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Li has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Chen has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Zhong has nothing to disclose.
- Received April 16, 2020.
- Accepted April 27, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020
This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.