Longitudinal follow-up of postacute COVID-19 syndrome: DL<sub>CO</sub>, quality-of-life and MRI pulmonary gas-exchange abnormalities
Alexander M. Matheson, Marrissa J. McIntosh, H.K. Kooner, Mohamed Abdelrazek, Mitchell S. Albert, Inderdeep Dhaliwal, J. Michael Nicholson, Alexei Ouriadov, Sarah Svenningsen, Grace Párraga
Abstract
129 Xe MRI red blood cell to alveolar tissue plasma ratio (RBC:TP) abnormalities have been observed in ever-hospitalised and never-hospitalised people with postacute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS). But, it is not known if such abnormalities resolve when symptoms and quality-of-life scores improve. We evaluated 21 participants with PACS, 7±4 months (baseline) and 14±4 months (follow-up) postinfection. Significantly improved diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DL CO , Δ=14% pred ;95%CI 7 to 21, p<0.001), postexertional dyspnoea (Δ=−0.7; 95%CI=−0.2 to –1.2, p=0.019), St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire-score (SGRQ Δ=−6; 95% CI=−1 to –11, p=0.044) but not RBC:TP (Δ=0.03; 95% CI=0.01 to 0.05, p=0.051) were observed at 14 months. DL CO correlated with RBC:TP (r=0.60, 95% CI=0.22 to 0.82, p=0.004) at 7 months. While DL CO and SGRQ measurements improved, these values did not normalise 14 months post-infection. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04584671 .