Symptom Persistence Despite Improvement in Cardiopulmonary Health – Insights from longitudinal CMR, CPET and lung function testing post-COVID-19
Mark Philip Cassar, Elizabeth M. Tunnicliffe, Nayia Petousi, Adam J. Lewandowski, Cheng Xie, Masliza Mahmod, Azlan Helmy Abd Samat, Rachael A Evans, Christopher E. Brightling, Ling‐Pei Ho, Stefan K. Piechnik, Nick P. Talbot, David Holdsworth, Vanessa M. Ferreira, Stefan Neubauer, Betty Raman
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The longitudinal trajectories of cardiopulmonary abnormalities and symptoms following infection with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are unclear. We sought to describe their natural history in previously hospitalised patients, compare this with controls, and assess the relationship between symptoms and cardiopulmonary impairment at 6 months post-COVID-19. METHODS: May 2020, underwent symptom-questionnaires, cardiac and lung magnetic resonance imaging (CMR), cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET), and spirometry at 3 months following COVID-19. Of them, forty-six patients returned for follow-up assessments at 6 months. FINDINGS: secondary to symptomatic limitation and muscular impairment. Cardiopulmonary symptoms in patients did not associate with CMR, lung function, or CPET measures. INTERPRETATION: In patients, cardiopulmonary abnormalities improve over time, though some measures remain abnormal relative to controls. Persistent symptoms at 6 months post-COVID-19 did not associate with objective measures of cardiopulmonary health. FUNDING: The authors' work was supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford British Heart Foundation (BHF) Centre of Research Excellence (RE/18/3/34214), United Kingdom Research Innovation and Wellcome Trust. This project is part of a tier 3 study (C-MORE) within the collaborative research programme entitled PHOSP-COVID Post-hospitalization COVID-19 study: a national consortium to understand and improve long-term health outcomes, funded by the Medical Research Council and Department of Health and Social Care/National Institute for Health Research Grant (MR/V027859/1) ISRCTN number 10980107.