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OBJECTIVE: New-onset or persistent symptoms beyond after 4 weeks from COVID-19 are termed “long-COVID.” Whether the initial severity of COVID-19 has a bearing on the clinicoradiological manifestations of long COVID is an area of interest.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We did an observational analysis of the long-COVID patients after categorizing them based on their course of COVID-19 illness into mild, moderate, and severe groups. The clinical and radiological profile was compared across these groups.
RESULTS: Out of 150 long-COVID patients recruited in the study, about 79% (118), 14% (22), and 7% (10) had a history of mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19, respectively. Fatigue (P = .001), breathlessness (P = .001), tachycardia (P = .002), tachypnea (P < .001), raised blood pressure (P < .001), crepitations (P = .04), hypoxia at rest (P < .001), significant desaturation in 6-minute walk test (P = .27), type 1 respiratory failure (P = .001), and type 2 respiratory failure (P = .001) were found to be significantly higher in the long-COVID patients with a history of severe COVID-19. These patients also had the highest prevalence of abnormal chest X-ray (60%) and honeycombing in computed tomography scan thorax (25%, P = .027).
CONCLUSION: The course of long COVID bears a relationship with initial COVID-19 severity. Patients with severe COVID-19 are prone to develop more serious long-COVID manifestations.
Cite this article as: Goel N, Goyal N, Spalgais S, et al. Initial COVID-19 severity and long-COVID manifestations: an observational analysis.Thorac Res Pract. 2023;24(1):22-28.