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Quantitative Chest CT Assessment of Small Airways Disease in Post-Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Quantitative Chest CT Assessment of Small Airways Disease in Post-Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Josalyn L Cho, Raul Villacreses, Prashant Nagpal, Junfeng Guo, Alejandro A Pezzulo, Andrew L Thurman, Nabeel Y Hamzeh, Robert J Blount, Spyridon Fortis, Eric A Hoffman, …
Radiology, Vol.304(1), pp.185-192
03/15/2022
DOI: 10.1148/radiol.212170
PMCID: PMC9270680
PMID: 35289657
url
https://doi.org/10.1148/radiol.212170View
Open Access

Abstract

Background The long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pulmonary structure and function remain incompletely characterized. Purpose To test whether SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to small airways disease in patients with persistent symptoms. Materials and Methods In this single center study at a university teaching hospital, adults with confirmed COVID-19 who remained symptomatic >30 days following diagnosis were prospectively enrolled between June and December 2020 and compared to healthy participants (controls) prospectively enrolled between March and August 2018. Participants with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) were classified as ambulatory, hospitalized, or requiring the intensive care unit (ICU) based on the highest level of care received during acute infection. Symptoms, pulmonary function tests, and chest CT images were collected, and quantitative CT analysis was performed using supervised machine-learning to measure regional ground glass opacities (GGO) and inspiratory and expiratory image-matching to measure regional air trapping. Univariable analyses and multivariable linear regression were used to compare groups. Results 100 participants with PASC (median age, 48 years; 66 women) were evaluated and compared with 106 matched healthy controls. Sixty-seven percent (67/100) of the participants with PASC were classified as ambulatory, 17% (17/100) wer e hospitalized and 16% (16/100) required care in the ICU. Among the hospitalized and ICU groups, the mean percent of total lung classified as GGO was 13.2% and 28.7%, respectively, and was higher than in the ambulatory group (3.7%, p<.001 for both comparisons). The mean percentage of total lung affected by air trapping was 25.4%, 34.6%, and 27.3% in the ambulatory, hospitalized, and ICU groups and 7.2% in healthy controls (p<.001). Air trapping correlated with the residual volume to total lung capacity rati o (RV/TLC; r=0.6, p<.001). Conclusions In survivors of COVID-19, small airways disease occurred independently of initial infection severity. The long-term consequences are unknown. See also the editorial by Elicker.
COVID-19

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