By Dr. Chinta SidharthanDec 5 2022Reviewed by Aimee Molineux In a recent study posted to the medRxiv* preprint server, researchers investigated the clinical, histopathological, imaging, and serological characteristics of post-acute sequelae of coronavirus disease 2019 in patients with mild COVID-19.
About the study The present study examined a cohort of unvaccinated patients with mild SARS-CoV-2 infections confirmed through positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests. A detailed patient history of allergies and previous medications was recorded, and a baseline diagnosis consisting of spiroergometry and a physical examination was conducted. All patients were also screened for antinuclear antibody , antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody , and extractable nuclear antigen .
Results The results reported that the prevalent pulmonary symptom in the cohort was dyspnea during exertion, with the maximal expiratory flow at 50% and forced expiratory volume in 1 second being less than 80% in 42.9% and 16% of the patients, respectively. Additionally, airflow obstruction was observed in 35.3% of the patients with low attenuation volume in more than 5% of the lung area. Autoantibodies were detected in 33.