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Post-Covid Lung Fibrosis: Prompt Diagnosis And Treatment Key To Manage The Chronic Disease

Post-Covid Lung Fibrosis: Prompt Diagnosis And Treatment Key To Manage The Chronic Disease
Lung fibrosis is the scarring of tissues leading to breathlessness, chronic cough, and weakness.

Thanks to the prompt treatment, a post-Covid patient with lung fibrosis having 20% SPO2 levels gets a new lease of life. Read on to know more about this condition.

Written by Longjam Dineshwori |Updated : June 18, 2021 10:13 AM IST

Pulmonary fibrosis is one of the most worrying post-COVID-19 complications as it causes permanent lung damage, making it harder to breathe. Though cases of pulmonary fibrosis in COVID-19 survivors are reported to be low, it is a potentially life-threatening condition. Sadly, there is no cure for pulmonary fibrosis. But a prompt diagnosis, medications and therapies can help manage this condition and improve the patient's quality of life. Thanks to the prompt treatment at Zen Multispeciality Hospital, Chembur, a 42-year-old post-Covid patient with lung fibrosis having low SPO2 levels is now able to breathe freely and resume her daily routine.

Varsha Kale, a resident of Mumbai was jolted out of her normal life, after she tested Covid positive on March 1. She had symptoms such as body pain and fever and was home quarantined in Nashik, where she had been during the lockdown. Things turned awry when her oxygen level dropped below 90 on March 9. She was immediately admitted to a hospital nearby, underwent a CT scan but her condition didn't improve, and her oxygen level dropped to 20. The family panicked and shifted her to another hospital in the city as her health kept deteriorating. There she was kept on a Bi-Level Positive Airway Pressure (BPAP) machine, a type of ventilator used to treat chronic conditions that affect breathing.

Her health improved and she tested negative. But, to her dismay, her CT scan revealed lung fibrosis. She was given medication and discharged from the hospital on April 4. But she remained bed-bound and required oxygen daily. Later, the family brought her to Mumbai in a car equipped with an oxygen cylinder and concentrator and consulted Dr Arvind Kate, Pulmonologist at Zen Multispecialty Hospital, Chembur, Mumbai for further treatment.

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Medications and therapies can help improve symptoms

Lung fibrosis is the scarring of tissues leading to breathlessness, chronic cough, and weakness. The thickened and stiff tissue makes it more difficult for your lungs to function properly. As lung fibrosis worsens, one becomes progressively shorter of breath. Also, the lung damage which one undergoes due to lung fibrosis can't be repaired explained Dr Arvind.

"But medications and therapies can help tackle symptoms and improve quality of life. A prompt diagnosis is also key to manage it," he said in a statement released by the hospital.

"There are many patients like Varsha who have been diagnosed with post-Covid lung fibrosis. Varsha was advised to stay away from sick people, limit visitors at home and take physiotherapy as she was immobile for a month. One follow-up, the patient's health has drastically improved and she doesn't require oxygen support now," he added.

Recalling Varsha's condition, her husband Nitin Kale said that once she got infected with Covid her oxygen level kept dropping and reached till 20. She was gasping for breath, she couldn't even walk 5 steps, and the worst she was also having lung fibrosis. For over a month she was bed-bound on oxygen support and required oxygen daily, he said.

Appreciating the timely treatment given by the doctor at Zen Multispecialty Hospital, he said, "My wife is feeling better. She can walk on the treadmill for 15 minutes and do her daily chores with ease. She doesn't require oxygen support now, and her SPO2 level is above 95."