European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Background: This study was conducted to assess pulmonary sequelae in moderate to severe cases of post-COVID-19 infection with follow-up at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 9 months from the time of diagnosis of COVID-19 and assess the pulmonary complications in moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. Methods: This was a hospital-based prospective observational study conducted among 60 patients (adults) presenting with a past history of COVID-19 to the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Rajarajeshwari Medical College Hospital, Bengaluru, over a period of 18 months from December 2020 to June 2022, after obtaining clearance from the institutional ethics committee and written informed consent from the study participants. Results: 54 of them showed residual HRCT findings like GGO, patchy consolidation, septal thickening, bronchiectasis, and fibrotic strands among others. The median CT score was 14, with the majority of study subjects having 51-75% lung involvement. In the 1st month, the median FEV1 was 55% of what was predicted. At the third month, median FEV1 was 58% of predicted, at the sixth month, 58% of predicted, and at the ninth month, 60% of predicted. The FVC median at the first month was 55%, 60% at the third month, 64.5% at the sixth month, and 69% at the ninth month. The average DLCO was 48% of what was predicted in the first month, 55% of what was predicted in the third month, 68% of what was predicted in the sixth month, and 75% of what was predicted in the ninth month. Conclusion: Patients recovering from COVID-19 may present with significant parenchymal, functional, and physiological abnormalities persisting for several months following the primary infection. According to our study, up to 9 months after discharge, pulmonary sequelae were common among moderate-to-severe patients who had been hospitalized for COVID-19. Hence, a multidisciplinary approach is necessary to deal with the undiscovered pulmonary sequelae of COVID-19 on follow-up.