Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Covid-19 was found to have a permanent effect on the body and recover in a long time. This was discovered in predecessor research presented at the recent International Congress of the European Respiratory Society.
The Austrian study included 86 Covid-19 patients with severe symptoms from April to June 2020. Researchers periodically evaluated patients who had been discharged from the hospital. The first evaluation was carried out at 6 weeks after discharge from the hospital, the second evaluation was carried out at week 12, and the third evaluation at week 24.
Researchers performed clinical examinations, laboratory testing, lung function analysis, CT scans, and cardiac echocardiogram.
At week 6, researchers found that 65.9 percent of patients showed persistent Covid-19 symptoms such as shortness of breath and coughing. “The patient experienced shortness of breath that lasted for six weeks after being discharged from the hospital, and seemed to improve on the second evaluation,” said one of the researchers from the University Clinic Innsbruck, Austria, Sabina Sahanic, launching CNN.
Meanwhile, from the examination CT scan, the investigators found pathological disorders in about 88 percent of the study population. This figure decreased in the second evaluation to 56 percent.
In addition, the researchers also noted the presence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in the heart, which can cause lung function abnormalities.
“Covid-19 survivors suffered lung damage for several weeks after being declared cured. However, over time, the damage can be repaired,” said Sahanic.
These findings, continued Sahanic, at least notify that structured follow-up is needed for Covid-19 survivors.
However, please note, this study is only a preliminary research and is not published in a peer-reviewed journal. The study also has limitations, such as the small sample size and the large number of study participants who have a history of smoking. More research is needed to find out whether the same findings will emerge among a larger and more diverse group of patients.
(asr)
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