Long COVID: Hidden Damage in the Lungs Could Be Detected With This New Scanning Technique

A small pilot study in the UK shows that some people with ‘long Covid’ may have hidden damage to their lungs.

The researchers used a new scanning method with xenon gas to detect lung abnormalities that cannot be identified by routine scans.

The study focused on 11 people who did not require hospital care when they first contracted Covid, but who experienced prolonged shortness of breath after their initial infection. A larger and more detailed study is underway to confirm the results obtained in this study. The current study builds on an earlier study that looked at patients hospitalized for Covid.

Researchers say the findings shed some light on the question of why shortness of breath is so common in long-term Covid; however, there are many and complex causes of shortness of breath.

Long Covid refers to a set of symptoms that persist for weeks after a coronavirus infection and cannot be explained for any other reason.

Transport of Oxygen

The team, which included researchers from Oxford, Sheffield, Cardiff and Manchester, compared xenon gas scans and other lung function tests in three groups of people.

This included people with prolonged Covid and shortness of breath who were not hospitalized when infected, 12 people who were hospitalized with Covid but did not have long-term Covid, and 13 healthy people as the “control” group. All participants inhaled xenon gas during a magnetic resonance imaging (emar-MR) scan. To note, xenon gas behaves similarly to oxygen but can be monitored visually during scans.

So the researchers were able to observe how well this gas moves from the lungs into the bloodstream; because this transition is seen as a very important step in the transport of oxygen throughout the body.

Research on long Covid exposure

The researchers found that for the majority of people with long-term Covid-19, gas transfer was less effective than for a control group of healthy people. Similar abnormalities were seen in people hospitalized for Covid.

Principal investigator and lung specialist Dr. Emily Fraser said it’s frustrating when people go to the doctor and don’t get a full answer to why they’re panting. Lung x-rays and scans usually show no abnormalities.

Stating that this is important research and will shed light on many questions, Dr. “It’s also important for people to know that rehabilitation strategies and rebreathing training can really help,” Fraser said.

Professor Fergus Gleeson, one of the study’s leading researchers, said: “There are important questions to be answered, such as how many patients with long-term Covid-19 will have abnormal scans, the extent of the abnormality we have detected, the cause of the abnormality and its long-term consequences. Once we understand the mechanisms that trigger these symptoms, we will be better positioned to develop more effective treatments.”

The results of the research have not yet gone through the official peer review process.