There has long been concern internationally about the long-term effects of corona. In some Dutch corona patients, damage is now actually visible. Additional research must show whether this damage is chronic.
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Special aftercare clinic
These are patients with corona who were admitted to Amphia Hospital and were allowed to return home six weeks ago.
The hospital opened a special Corona Aftercare Poli for them last week.
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Abnormalities in the lungs
Pulmonologist Ingrid De Backer is one of the initiators of the clinic. “We started the outpatient clinic last week. We have now seen about thirty corona patients. Some of the patients still show abnormalities in the lungs.”
X-rays show that lung damage as ‘stripe-like abnormalities’. Pulmonary radiologist Jochem van Werven: “With normal pneumonia, you expect the lungs to completely recover after a few weeks. But after six weeks, we still see extensive residual damage in some patients, with little to no improvement. Those abnormalities are then spread out in all fields of the lungs. That’s quite serious damage. ”
Scars
The abnormalities can lead to scarring in the lungs. And that can cause health problems. Pulmonologist De Backer: “If you have extensive lung abnormalities, you expect that this will also impede functioning. Although this does not always have to be the case. It can potentially cause complaints of shortness of breath or loss of fitness.”
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The fact that the condition of cured corona patients has deteriorated considerably is already being observed at the clinic. “We see that people have submitted in terms of condition. Sometimes more than with normal pneumonia. Also because the absorption is a bit longer. With exertion they are short of breath.”
Permanent or not?
The doctors do not yet know whether the lung damage is chronic. “After six weeks it is too early to say definitively that there is permanent damage. We will see people back at the clinic even after a few months. We will then do CT scans to see if it is permanent. a risk that it is, but time will tell, “says De Backer.
Six weeks after discharge, every corona patient who was admitted to the Amphia receives a call for a check-up. It concerns both people who have been in a nursing ward and patients from intensive care.
Long-term consequences
At the aftercare clinic, patients do a lung function test, X-rays or a CT scan are taken and there are discussions with the pulmonologist and the lung nurse. The aim is to monitor the long-term consequences of corona. Because the coronavirus is new, little is known about the course of the disease process.
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The province of Noord-Brabant was at the forefront of the Dutch corona outbreak. The first patients with corona were admitted to hospital in Brabant. Now the first patients also return for checks after six weeks. It is expected that other Dutch hospitals will follow the initiative of the Corona Aftercare Clinic in Breda.
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