Pulmonary fibrosis can be one of the complications of a Covid-19 infection. It is then more aggressive and evolves more quickly than when it is not linked to the coronavirus.
- The incidence rate of Covid-19 is currently 522, according to Santé Publique France.
- There have been 499 emergency visits due to Covid-19 over the past seven days.
59,008 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours on Friday, December 2, according to Public Health France. Among them, some may have serious complications, such as pulmonary fibrosis. This disease is characterized by a stiffening of the lung tissue which is transformed into fibrous tissue, which disrupts the respiratory exchanges. In the most severe cases, pulmonary fibrosis can be fatal.
A first step in understanding pulmonary fibrosis linked to Covid-19
Many pulmonary fibrosis remains due to unknown causes and, until now, scientists did not know precisely what the characteristics of those linked to Covid-19 were. But researchers have precisely worked on this question and have just published their results in the journal eBioMedicine.
“This is a first step to understanding pulmonary fibrosis after Covid-19 infectionexplains Soma SK Jyothula, one of the authors, in a communicated. In some patients with Covid-19, lung damage can progress rapidly to the point that lung transplantation is the only viable option for survival..
To better understand the link between Covid-19 and pulmonary fibrosis, scientists analyzed the health data of 23 patients with severe forms of the virus who had a lung transplant between July 2020 and July 2021 to treat this disease. Thus, they compared their lung tissue with that of patients with pulmonary fibrosis unrelated to Covid-19. Results, the scientists discovered that those of people infected with the coronavirus were particularly extensive and aggressive.
Pulmonary fibrosis is more aggressive when linked to Covid-19
Another finding of the researchers, the pulmonary fibrosis of patients with Covid-19 progressed very quickly. On average, 119 days after the first symptoms, a lung transplant was needed to save them. In contrast, for classic pulmonary fibrosis, which is unrelated to Covid-19, it takes years to become serious and life-threatening for patients.
A previous study, published in September in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases also shows that lung transplantation is effective in treating pulmonary fibrosis due to Covid-19 infection.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied the health data of 13 patients who underwent lung transplantation between January 2020 and March 2022. Of these, six were followed for at least six months after surgery and all – except one who died – had few or no postoperative complications. Thus, overall, the efficacy of lung transplantation obtains very good results.
