Covid: Lung scarring seen in up to 11% of cases who were hospitalised, shows US study

Up to 11% of Covid cases that needed hospitalisation had lung scarring which may be irreversible and could get worse over time, according to a study conducted in the United States.

The study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, sought to determine the percentage of Covid-19 patients, with various degrees of severity, discharged from hospital who had a type of fibrotic lung damage, known as interstitial lung disease, that requires follow-up care. Interstitial lung disease refers to a broad group of diseases that are characterized by lung scarring, including idiopathic lung fibrosis.

This scarring makes it difficult to breathe and get oxygen into the bloodstream. Lung damage caused by this may be irreversible and get worse over time.

"We estimated that up to 11% of hospitalised Covid patients had fibrotic patterning after recovery from the acute illness," said corresponding author Iain Stewart, an advanced research fellow (Rayne Foundation) at the Margaret Turner Warwick Centre for Fibrosing Lung Disease, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London.