Study shows long-term COVID impact on organs
A study looking at the longer-term impact of COVID-19 has found that nearly a third of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 displayed abnormalities in multiple organs five months after being discharged.
The MRI scans revealed abnormalities in the lungs of some of the patients who had been hospitalised with COVID-19, interim findings show.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of patients on the trial showed a higher burden of abnormal findings involving the lungs, brain and kidneys compared to controls.
Lung abnormalities were significantly higher among patients discharged from hospital for COVID-19 than in the control group, while abnormal findings involving the brain and kidneys were three and two times higher respectively.
The extent of abnormalities on MRI was often influenced by the severity of the COVID-19 infection the patients had experienced and their age, as well as other conditions they had.
The findings, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, are part of the NIHR-supported C-MORE (Capturing the MultiORgan Effects of COVID-19) study, including 229 recruited at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The study is a key element of the national PHOSP-COVID platform, which is investigating the long-term effects of COVID-19 on hospitalised patients.
Read more on the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre website
