A new study reveals alarming rates of organ damage among COVID-19 patients – 60% affected.

Organ damage affects nearly 60% of COVID-19 patients

According to a new study, scientists have found that organ damage persisted in 59% of long COVID-19 patients a year after initial symptoms, even in those not severely affected when first diagnosed with the virus.

“The study also found that 29% of patients with long COVID had a multi-organ impairment, with persistent symptoms and reduced function at six and twelve months,” it said.

It said that the comprehensive study of organ impairment in long COVID patients over 12 months focussed on patients reporting extreme breathlessness, cognitive dysfunction, and poor health-related quality of life.

According to the study, of the 536 patients, 13% were hospitalized when first diagnosed with COVID-19, with 32% of people taking part in the survey being healthcare workers.
The study found that of the 536 patients, 331, or 62%, were identified with organ impairment six months after their initial diagnosis. It is published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

These patients were followed up six months later with a 40-minute multi-organ MRI scan (Perspectum’s CoverScan), analyzed in Oxford, the study said.

“Symptoms were common at six and twelve months and associated with female gender, younger age, and single organ impairment,” said Amitava Banerjee, Professor of Clinical Data Science at the UCL Institute of Health Informatics, the U.K. “The study reported a reduction in symptoms between six and 12 months,” it said.

Extreme breathlessness came down from being reported in 38% of the patients to 30% of patients, the study said. In comparison, cognitive dysfunction came down from 48% to 38%. The study noted that poor health-related quality of life decreased from 57% to 45% of patients. “Several studies confirm the persistence of symptoms in individuals with long COVID up to one year. We now add that three in five people with long COVID have impairment in at least one organ, and one in four have impairment in two or more organs, sometimes without symptoms”.