European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: On 11^th March 2020 Corona virus disease 2019 is declared a pandemic by WHO. The highly contagious COVID-19 virus has spread across the globe. Illness diagnosis is a key component of patient management and disease control strategies. Thin-section chest CT is more sensitive in detecting abnormal alterations in the lung parenchyma. The CT-pattern of COVID-19 and other viral pneumonias share a lot of similarities. The distribution characteristics of various lung pathologies and involvement of lung lobes were noted three months after treatment has been completed on a follow-up chest CT. Aims and Objectives: To determine any post covid pulmonary sequelae in covid patients. Materials And Methods:  This is a prospective cross sectional descriptive study done in DR. PSIMS & RF, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India from November 2020 to October 2022. Patients who came with history of covid-19 disease for follow up were included in this study. Serial high resolution axial sections of chest done without intra venous contrast using SIEMEN’s 16 slice CT scanner in the department of Radio-diagnosis Dr. PSIMS& RF. With age, gender distribution, fibrosis, pattern of fibrosis, % Of lung involvement, comparison with acute CT scan if any(% of involvement vs % of sequelae) ,comparison with previous CT scan where ever available, relapse of pneumonia (if any), correlation with treatment taken earlier (actively treated or not), unrelated positive findings to post covid sequelae as study variables. Results: A total of 50 Patients who came to Dr. PSIMS & RF for CT-Chest with history of covid-19 disease for follow up were included in this study. At 6 months of follow-up, most patients with severe or critical disease still had significant persistent lung abnormalities. Lung fibrosis and pneumonia were the most prevalent CT symptoms for patients, followed by mosaic attenuation and ground glass opacities along with some unrelated lung pathologies. Our study shows that residual pulmonary sequelae of COVID-19 were caused by older age and illness severity, both of which were independent variables. Conclusion: It is important for both the radiologists and chest physicians to know the persistent post covid lung changes which play a significant role in diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of any chest illness in these patients in future.