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Published on: December 19, 2020
Impact of Diabetes on Persistent Radiological Abnormalities and Pulmonary Diffusion Dysfunction in COVID-19
Linxia Wu1, Xiaoyu Han1, Lu Chen2
1Department of Radiology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1277 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430022, The People's Republic of China (L.W., X.H., Y.L., T.N., F.W., X.Z., H.S., C.Z.); Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Wuhan 430022, The People's Republic of China (L.W., X.H., Y.L., T.N., F.W., X.Z., H.S., C.Z.).
Rationale And Objectives:
Little is known about the long-term impact of diabetes on lung impairment in COVID-19 survivors over a three-year period. This study evaluated the long-term impact of diabetes on persistent radiological pulmonary abnormalities and lung function impairment in COVID-19 survivors over three years.
Materials And Methods:
In this prospective, multicenter, cohort study, pulmonary sequelae were compared between COVID-19 survivors with and without diabetes. Serial chest CT scans, symptom questionnaires and pulmonary function tests were obtained 6 months, 12 months, 2 years and 3 years post-discharge. The independent predictors for lung dysfunction at the 3-year follow-up were analyzed.
Results:
A total of 278 COVID-19 survivors (63 [IQR 57-69] year-old, female: 103 [37.0%]) were included. At the 3-year follow-up, individuals in the diabetes group had higher incidences of respiratory symptoms, radiological pulmonary abnormalities and pulmonary diffusion dysfunction than those in the control group. Diabetes (OR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.04-4.59, p = 0.034), allergy (OR: 2.26, 95% CI: 1.09-4.74, p = 0.029), female (OR: 2.70, 95% CI: 1.37-5.29, p = 0.004), severe COVID-19 (OR: 4.10, 95% CI: 1.54-10.93, p = 0.005), and fibrotic-like CT changes (OR: 5.64, 95% CI: 2.28-13.98, p < 0.001) were independent predictors of pulmonary diffusion dysfunction in COVID-19 survivors.
Conclusion:
These results highlight the long-term deleterious effect of diabetes status on radiological pulmonary abnormalities and pulmonary dysfunction in COVID-19 survivors. This study provides important evidence support for long-term monitoring of lung abnormalities in COVID-19 recovery survivors with diabetes.
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