CHENNAI: Doctors from the Tamil Nadu government-run post-Covid clinics attached to two medical college hospitals in Chennai said that a comparison of CT scan reports of the patients taken at admission and six weeks after discharge showed that infection in even patients with up to 75 per cent lung involvement resolved in that period, the lungs turning clear in many severely affected patients.
The post-Covid clinics, inaugurated by Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, follow up on patients with lung infection discharged six months ago with a lung infection.
"We know that it takes longer for Covid infections to resolve than non-Covid infections. In the latter, it takes three to four weeks for changes in lungs to show up in CT scans while it can take up to six weeks after discharge for Covid patients," said Dr Chandrasekar, professor of general medicine at the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.
According to Dr B Suhasini, who heads the Radiology department at the Government Omandurar Medical College Hospital, more than 100 patients who came to the hospital’s post-Covid clinic had an initial lung involvement of at least 20 per cent.
“Patients who had more than 20 per cent of lung involvement at initial admission are advised to undergo a repeat CT. Almost 98 per cent of the patients showed a complete resolution of the changes in the lungs six weeks after discharge,” she said.
“In fact, the lungs of one patient which were affected by up to 75 per cent on admission were completely clear six weeks after discharge. Another patient, with over 90 per cent lung involvement still showed some residual effects after six weeks and has been advised to come for a review after another six weeks," Dr Suhasini said.
Dr Uma Maheswari, the nodal officer at the post-Covid clinic run from the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, said that the clinic had studied the CT scan reports of 50 patients with complaints of breathing difficulties among other issues.
The team found that patients with less than 25 per cent of lung involvement required at least one month after discharge for the lungs to clear up, while those with 25 to 75 per cent lung involvement needed at least eight to 10 weeks after discharge to show resolution of infection. Patients for whom over 75 per cent of lungs were affected might need at least 12 weeks after discharge for the organs to turn clear in the CT scan.
Speaking about the medical intervention provided to patients at the clinics, Dr R Jayanthi, dean of Government Omandurar Medical College Hospital said the main issue seen in patients was clotting in lung tissue. Such patients were given aspirin and statins, depending on the patient's condition.
“Physiotherapy and breathing exercises are part of the interventions apart from yoga practice," she explained. Doctors said that the resolution of the lung infection due to Covid is mainly attributed to proper stratification (classification as mild, moderate and severe) and timely administration of drugs.
However, doctors stressed that improvements seen in CT scans were only one aspect of the recovery from Covid. A complete clinical recovery was more important and could take even up to a year after discharge. "The complete recovery of the patient depends on their ability to do normal activities, without any breathing difficulty. They should also be free of other symptoms. More than CT findings, clinical recovery is what matters," Dr Chandrasekar stressed.