2023-09-23 12:20:56
Image source: Getty Images
September 23, 2023
A new study shows that people living with long Covid after being hospitalized are more likely to have some damage to the body’s vital organs.
MRI scans revealed that long-term Covid patients are three times more likely to suffer from organ failure such as the lungs, brain and kidneys.
Researchers believe that there is also a link between long-term Covid and the severity of these diseases and illnesses.
It is hoped that the British study will help develop more effective treatments for long Covid.
The study, published in the Lancet Respiratory Diseases journal, examined the condition of 259 patients who became severely ill with the virus to the point that they had to be hospitalized.
Five months after they were discharged from hospital, MRI scans of their major organs showed some significant differences when compared to a group of 52 people who had never had Covid.
The greatest effect was seen in the lungs, where scans were 14 times more likely to show abnormalities.
MRI scans also showed that people who developed severe Covid symptoms were three times more likely to show some brain abnormalities and were twice as likely to show kidney problems.
There was no significant difference in heart or liver health.
Dr. Betty Raman, from the University of Oxford and one of the study’s lead researchers, says it is clear that those with long-term Covid symptoms are more likely to experience some organ damage.
“The age of the patient, how severely they have Covid, and whether they have other diseases at the same time are all important factors in whether or not we find damage to these important organs in the body,” she said.
New treatments
The findings are part of a larger study looking at the long-term effects of Covid on those hospitalized, known as the BeHosp Covid Study.
The researchers found some symptoms consistent with signs of organ damage revealed by MRI scans, for example, chest tightness and coughing with abnormalities in the lungs. But not all symptoms experienced by people with long Covid can be directly linked to what was seen on scans.
It also appeared that abnormalities in more than one organ were more common among people who were hospitalized and still reported physical and mental health problems after recovering from the initial infection, Raman said.
“What we see is that people with organ damage detected on an MRI, meaning they had more than two organs affected, were four times more likely to report severe and very severe mental and physical impairment,” she said.
“Our findings also highlight the need for long-term multidisciplinary follow-up services focusing on pulmonary and extrapulmonary health (kidney, brain, and mental health), especially for those hospitalized with Covid,” she added.
Professor Chris Brightling, from the University of Leicester, lead researcher on the Behosp Covid study, says the research is part of a wider effort to understand the range of different symptoms that make up the syndrome known as long Covid.
“This detailed whole-body imaging study confirms that changes in multiple organs appear months after hospitalization due to Covid,” he said.
“The BioHosp Covid study is working to understand why this happens and how we can develop new tests and treatments for long Covid,” he added.
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