Background: The long-term symptomatology of COVID-19 has yet to be comprehensively described. The aim of the study was to describe persistent COVID-19 symptoms in a cohort of hospitalized and home-isolated patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on long COVID patients. Long COVID symptoms were identified, and patients were divided into hospitalized (in-patients) and home-isolated (out-patients) as well as according to the number of symptoms. Patients were examined by a multydisciplinary medical team. Blood tests, high resolution chest computed tomography (CT), physical and infectious examination were performed. Finally, in-patients were evaluated at two time-points: on hospital admission (T0) and after three months from discharge (Tpost). Results: Three hundred and sixty-four COVID-19 patients were enrolled. 82% of patients reported at least one or more symptoms. The most reported symptom was fatigue. Chest CT showed alteration in 76% of patients and pulmonary function alterations were observed in 44.7% of patients. A higher risk of presenting at least one symptom was seen in patients treated with corticosteroid and a higher risk of presenting chest CT residual lesion was observed in hospitalized patients and in patients that received hydroxychloroquine treatment. Moreover, a higher risk of altered pulmonary function was observed in older patients. Conclusion: Long-term sequelae are present in a remarkable number of long COVID patients and pose a new challenge to the healthcare system to identify long-lasting effects and improve patients' wellbeing. Multi-disciplinary teams are crucial to develop preventive measures, and clinical management strategies.

Insights into Long COVID: Unraveling Risk Factors, Clinical Features, Radiological Findings, Functional Sequelae and Correlations: A Retrospective Cohort Study / Pasculli, Patrizia; Zingaropoli, Maria Antonella; Dominelli, Federica; Solimini, Angelo Giuseppe; Masci, Giorgio Maria; Birtolo, Lucia Ilaria; Pasquariello, Lara; Paribeni, Filippo; Iafrate, Franco; Panebianco, Valeria; Galardo, Gioacchino; Mancone, Massimo; Catalano, Carlo; Pugliese, Francesco; Palange, Paolo; Mastroianni, Claudio Maria; Ciardi, Maria Rosa. - In: THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. - ISSN 0002-9343. - (2024). [10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.09.006]

Insights into Long COVID: Unraveling Risk Factors, Clinical Features, Radiological Findings, Functional Sequelae and Correlations: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Pasculli, Patrizia
;
Zingaropoli, Maria Antonella;Dominelli, Federica;Solimini, Angelo Giuseppe;Masci, Giorgio Maria;Birtolo, Lucia Ilaria;Pasquariello, Lara;Paribeni, Filippo;Iafrate, Franco;Panebianco, Valeria;Galardo, Gioacchino;Mancone, Massimo;Catalano, Carlo;Pugliese, Francesco;Palange, Paolo;Mastroianni, Claudio Maria;Ciardi, Maria Rosa
2024

Abstract

Background: The long-term symptomatology of COVID-19 has yet to be comprehensively described. The aim of the study was to describe persistent COVID-19 symptoms in a cohort of hospitalized and home-isolated patients. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on long COVID patients. Long COVID symptoms were identified, and patients were divided into hospitalized (in-patients) and home-isolated (out-patients) as well as according to the number of symptoms. Patients were examined by a multydisciplinary medical team. Blood tests, high resolution chest computed tomography (CT), physical and infectious examination were performed. Finally, in-patients were evaluated at two time-points: on hospital admission (T0) and after three months from discharge (Tpost). Results: Three hundred and sixty-four COVID-19 patients were enrolled. 82% of patients reported at least one or more symptoms. The most reported symptom was fatigue. Chest CT showed alteration in 76% of patients and pulmonary function alterations were observed in 44.7% of patients. A higher risk of presenting at least one symptom was seen in patients treated with corticosteroid and a higher risk of presenting chest CT residual lesion was observed in hospitalized patients and in patients that received hydroxychloroquine treatment. Moreover, a higher risk of altered pulmonary function was observed in older patients. Conclusion: Long-term sequelae are present in a remarkable number of long COVID patients and pose a new challenge to the healthcare system to identify long-lasting effects and improve patients' wellbeing. Multi-disciplinary teams are crucial to develop preventive measures, and clinical management strategies.
2024
Long COVID; PASC; SARS-CoV-2 infection; radiological long-term sequelae; retrospective cohort study
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Insights into Long COVID: Unraveling Risk Factors, Clinical Features, Radiological Findings, Functional Sequelae and Correlations: A Retrospective Cohort Study / Pasculli, Patrizia; Zingaropoli, Maria Antonella; Dominelli, Federica; Solimini, Angelo Giuseppe; Masci, Giorgio Maria; Birtolo, Lucia Ilaria; Pasquariello, Lara; Paribeni, Filippo; Iafrate, Franco; Panebianco, Valeria; Galardo, Gioacchino; Mancone, Massimo; Catalano, Carlo; Pugliese, Francesco; Palange, Paolo; Mastroianni, Claudio Maria; Ciardi, Maria Rosa. - In: THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. - ISSN 0002-9343. - (2024). [10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.09.006]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1721754
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