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One Year Overview and Follow-Up in a Post-COVID Consultation of Critically Ill Patients

2022; Frontiers Media; Volume: 9; Linguagem: Inglês

10.3389/fmed.2022.897990

2296-858X

Jessica González, María Zuil, Iván D. Benítez, David de Gonzalo‐Calvo, María Aguilar, Sally Santisteve, Rafaela Vaca, Olga Mínguez, Faty Seck, Gerard Torres, Jordi de Batlle, Sílvia Gómez, Silvia Barril, Anna Moncusí‐Moix, Aída Monge, Clara Gort‐Paniello, Ricard Ferrer, Adrián Ceccato, Laia Fernández‐Barat, Ana Motos, Jordi Riera, Rosario Menéndez, Dario García-Gasulla, Óscar Peñuelas, Gonzalo Labarca, Jesús Caballero, Carme Barberà, Antoni Torres, Ferrán Barbé,

COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies

The long-term clinical management and evolution of a cohort of critical COVID-19 survivors have not been described in detail. We report a prospective observational study of COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU between March and August 2020. The follow-up in a post-COVID consultation comprised symptoms, pulmonary function tests, the 6-minute walking test (6MWT), and chest computed tomography (CT). Additionally, questionnaires to evaluate the prevalence of post-COVID-19 syndrome were administered at 1 year. A total of 181 patients were admitted to the ICU during the study period. They were middle-aged (median [IQR] of 61 [52;67]) and male (66.9%), with a median ICU stay of 9 (5-24.2) days. 20% died in the hospital, and 39 were not able to be included. A cohort of 105 patients initiated the follow-up. At 1 year, 32.2% persisted with respiratory alterations and needed to continue the follow-up. Ten percent still had moderate/severe lung diffusion (DLCO) involvement (<60%), and 53.7% had a fibrotic pattern on CT. Moreover, patients had a mean (SD) number of symptoms of 5.7 ± 4.6, and 61.3% met the criteria for post-COVID syndrome at 1 year. During the follow-up, 46 patients were discharged, and 16 were transferred to other consultations. Other conditions, such as emphysema (21.6%), COPD (8.2%), severe neurocognitive disorders (4.1%), and lung cancer (1%) were identified. A high use of health care resources is observed in the first year. In conclusion, one-third of critically ill COVID-19 patients need to continue follow-up beyond 1 year, due to abnormalities on DLCO, chest CT, or persistent symptoms.