Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic not only resulted in millions of hospitalizations but also created a need for follow-up of these pts. Our post-covid unit was established in our hospital in 04/2020 and since then more than 400 outpatients have been examined.

Method

In this prospective observational study, we evaluated the clinical status, the lung function and imaging of 194 recovered COVID-19 patients, approximately 120 days after the onset of the symptoms (aos). The first visit occured 52,2 (SD 13,7) days aos and the second 115,4 (SD 15,3) days aos. 70% were male, aged 61,2 (SD 11,4) years old and 86% had at least one co-morbidity. Acute disease was non-severe in 30%, severe in 60% and critical in 10%.

Results

Symptoms related to post-COVID-19 were reported in 62% at the first and in 30% at the second visit. Most common symptoms were dyspnea, fatigue and muscular weakness with a tendency to improve over time. Chest X-ray, performed 40,3 (SD 15,3) days aos, was normal in 48% and disclosed residual disease in 52%. Chest HRCT, performed 98,8 (SD 11,4) days aos, was normal in 38%, while in 62% had signs of residual disease (mainly mild or resolving lesions with approximately 12% having significant findings). PFTs performed 110,7 (SD 19,3) days aos. Mild reduction of DLco (between 60-80% of the predicted value) was observed in 38%, while moderate-severe (DLco lower than 60% of the predicted value) was observed in 16%.

Conclusion

Observation on our post-COVID-19 cohort, revealed that although the majority of patients improve over time, 4 months after symptoms onset approximately 30% of them remain symptomatic, while 16% have significant functional respiratory burden and 12% significant imaging abnormalities.