Post-COVID lungs worse than worst smoker’s lungs, surgeon says

A Texas trauma surgeon says it’s rare for x-rays from one of his COVID-19 patients to return without dense scars. Dr Brittany Bankhead-Kendall tweeted, “Post-COVID lungs seem worse than any kind of terrible smoker’s lung we’ve ever seen. And they collapse. And they clot. And the shortness of breath persists … and more … and again.”

“Everyone is so concerned about mortality and it is terrible and horrible,” she told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth. “But man, for all the survivors and the people who tested positive, it’s – it’s gonna be a problem.”

Bankhead-Kendall, assistant professor of surgery at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, has treated thousands of patients since the pandemic began in March.

She says patients who have exhibited symptoms of COVID-19 have a severe chest x-ray every time, and those who were asymptomatic have a severe chest x-ray 70% to 80% of the time.

“There are still people who say ‘I’m fine. I have no problem, “and you shoot their chest x-ray and they have absolutely a bad chest x-ray,” she said.

In x-ray photos of a normal lung, smoker’s lung and COVID-19 lung that Bankhead-Kendall shared with CBS Dallas, healthy lungs are clean with lots of black, which is mostly black. air. In the smoker’s lung, white lines indicate scarring and congestion, while the COVID lung is filled with white.

“Either you will see a lot of these dense white scars or you will see them all over your lung. Even if you don’t feel any issues now, the fact that it’s on your chest x-ray – it’s certainly telling of you. who might have problems later, ”she said.

Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist and senior researcher at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, told CBSN that some patients with severe COVID-19 may feel the effects for years to come.

“When a person recovers from pneumonia, whether it is bacterial pneumonia or viral pneumonia, it will take some time for their chest x-rays to improve. X-rays always look bad, ”he says. “And we know that people with COVID-19 can have severe pneumonia, and some of that pneumonia will lead to lung damage that will take time to heal. And some of them can be permanent.

He said the potential long-term health consequences are another reason people should take warnings about the disease seriously.

“It’s not something you can breathe out. It’s not something you want to have. Because even if you survive, you still risk ending up with serious complications that prevent you from getting back to your functioning. basic.”

Bankhead-Kendall said it was important that if you experience shortness of breath after your COVID-19 is gone, you stay in touch with your primary care doctor.

She also points out, “There is no long term implication of a vaccine that could ever be as bad as the long term implications of COVID.”