Residual lung abnormality following COVID-19 hospitalisation is characterised by biomarkers of epithelial injury
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Some survivors of acute COVID-19 infection have long-term symptoms that could suggest ongoing lung impairment. Searches performed in MEDLINE and Embase for SARS-COV-2 studies with radiological lung follow-up estimated that 50% of participants had inflammatory patterns and 29% had fibrotic patterns at a median of 3 months post infection. Analysis of the UK nationwide Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 Study at 5-months follow-up suggested that up to 11% of people discharged from hospital following COVID-19 infection were at-risk of radiological residual lung abnormalities, such as ground glass opacity and reticulation. In people with pulmonary fibrosis, these radiological patterns are often consistent with persistent epithelial lung injury. Biomarker studies have identified associations with COVID-19 severity, however there are few studies that explore the relationship between biomarkers of epithelial injury and parenchymal lung abnormalities post-hospitalisation.
Date Issued
2026-02-01
Date Acceptance
2026-01-09
Citation
EBioMedicine, 2026, 124
ISSN
2352-3964
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
EBioMedicine
Volume
124
Copyright Statement
Copyright This paper is embargoed until publication. Once published the author’s accepted manuscript will be made available under a CC-BY License in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy).
License URL
Subjects
COVID-19
Hospitalisation
Lung injury
Biomarker
Epithelial
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
106134
Date Publish Online
2025-01-23