Clinical, radiological, and transbronchial biopsy findings in patients with long COVID-19: a case series
Bruno Guedes Baldi, Alexandre Todorovic Fabro, Andreia Craveiro Franco, Marília Helena C Machado, Robson Prudente, Estefânia Aparecida Thomé Franco, Sérgio Marrone Ribeiro, Simone Alves do Vale, Talita Jacon Cezare, Marcelo Padovani de Toledo Moraes, Eloara V.M. Ferreira, André Luís Pereira de Albuquerque, Márcio Valente Yamada Sawamura, Suzana Érico Tanni
Abstract
This brief communication demonstrates the correlation of persistent respiratory symptoms with functional, tomographic, and transbronchial pulmonary biopsy findings in patients with COVID-19 who had a long follow-up period. We report a series of six COVID-19 patients with pulmonary involvement who presented with persistent dyspnea within 4-15 months of discharge. We performed transbronchial biopsies, and the histopathological pattern consistently demonstrated peribronchial remodeling with interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, lung biopsy may be useful in the approach of patients with long COVID-19, although the type of procedure, its precise indication, and the moment to perform it are yet to be clarified. (Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials-ReBEC; identifier: RBR-8j9kqy [http://www.ensaiosclinicos.gov.br]).