Abstract
PurposeTo evaluate the association between the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and post-inflammatory emphysematous lung alterations on follow-up low-dose CT scans.MethodsConsecutive patients with proven COVID-19 infection and a follow-up CT were retrospectively reviewed. The severity of pulmonary involvement was classified as mild, moderate and severe. Total lung volume, emphysema volume and the ratio of emphysema/-to-lung volume were quantified semi-automatically and compared inter-individually between initial and follow-up CT and to a control group of healthy, age- and sex-matched patients. Lung density was further assessed by drawing circular regions of interest (ROIs) into non-affected regions of the upper lobes.ResultsA total of 32 individuals (mean age: 64 ± 13 years, 12 females) with at least one follow-up CT (mean: 52 ± 66 days, range: 5–259) were included. In the overall cohort, total lung volume, emphysema volume and the ratio of lung-to-emphysema volume did not differ significantly between the initial and follow-up scans. In the subgroup of COVID-19 patients with > 30 days of follow-up, the emphysema volume was significantly larger as compared to the subgroup with a follow-up < 30 days (p = 0.045). Manually measured single ROIs generally yielded lower attenuation values prior to COVID-19 pneumonia, but the difference was not significant between groups (all p > 0.05).ConclusionCOVID-19 patients with a follow-up CT >30 days showed significant emphysematous lung alterations. These findings may help to explain the long-term effect of COVID-19 on pulmonary function and warrant validation by further studies.
Highlights
In the subgroup of COVID-19 patients with > 30 days of follow-up, the emphysema volume was significantly larger as compared to the subgroup with a follow-up < 30 days (p = 0.045)
It has been more than two years, since the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has begun in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China [1]
As lung emphysema is caused by alveolar damaging and is involved in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we evaluated, whether COVID-19 patients developed pulmonary emphysema at short-term follow-up
Summary
It has been more than two years, since the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has begun in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China [1]. Anatomical studies revealed that COVID-19 infection is a heterogenous disease that involves the tracheobronchial system and causes diffuse alveolar and vascular damage [8,9]. As lung emphysema is caused by alveolar damaging and is involved in COPD, we evaluated, whether COVID-19 patients developed pulmonary emphysema at short-term follow-up. For this purpose, the total lung and emphysema volume was assessed semi-automatically at initial and follow-up LD-CT scans and the lung density was measured manually by drawing region of interests (ROIs) in the upper pulmonary lobes
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