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what consequences for the patients? Responses

While in France the milestone of 30,000 dead has been crossed, what about the nearly 78,000 patients who have been hospitalized and have come out cured? Do some suffer from sequelae? Sophie’s answers, radiology intern in 9th year of medicine and founder of the Instagram account The French Radiologist.

How are traces of Coronavirus detected?

In the case of a lung damage, the scanner remains the best way to identify it. Unlike at tis PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) through the nose, the scanner is never wrong. A patient may be negative for the PCR test and present distinct Covid-related abnormalities using the scanner. In the vast majority of cases, Covid causes more or less symptomatic lung damage. In other words, following a chest CT scan, in certain asymptomatic patients, the doctors were able to detect traces of Covid. On a CT scan, a “free” lung appears black. However, in the presence of the virus, condensations and mouths of pus will be visible thanks to the perception of white spots, fixing the X-rays.

We distinguish their characteristic as specific to Covid thanks to their location. Indeed, they have the particularity of being housed in peripheries of the lungs, never in the center. These white spots correspond to lesions which predominate in the postero-inferior regions, at the bottom of the lungs. Furthermore, pulmonary involvement is correlated with clinical severity. The more pronounced the presence of white spots, the more serious the case. A priori, the lung is more or less affected depending on the immune system of each even if no study proves it scientifically.

At this stage of the epidemic, can we know if the Covid leaves any after-effects?

After recovery, in some patients, these traces may disappear completely. In others, the sequelae are manifested by lesions of fibroses. Fibrosis is like a cut on the skin that does not heal. It has the appearance of retractable white areas and pull the lung. The consequences of fibrosis arealter respiratory functions, like a small volume of the lung that we could use and that is dysfunctional in a way final.

In very few cases, some patients may have neurological damage when the Covid is deposited in the brain. These deposits cause states of confusion and of disorientation because they result from viral hemorrhages (small bleeds) in the brain.

But today, the medical profession really lacks perspective to know the lethal potential of these lesions. They necessarily have an impact on quality of life, but we do not yet have data at the moment. We recognize the same sequelae in the lungs in the case of Infectious diseases, of radiotherapy, of cancers or certain surgical procedures.

A study published in 2016 has shown that images suggestive of fibrosis remain visible on the chest scanner up to seven years after their appearance…

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