TABLE 2.
Baseline characteristics of study participants in pulmonary long COVID and control groups
| Pulmonary long COVID | Control | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participants | 9 | 9 | |
| Age years | 54 (44–60) | 35 (24–62) | 0.63 |
| Male | 5 (55.6) | 4 (44.4) | 1.00 |
| BMI kg·m−2 | 28 (27–31) | 23 (22–26) | 0.03 |
| Cigarette smoking status | 1.00 | ||
| Former | 1 (11.1) | 2 (22.2) | |
| Never | 8 (88.9) | 7 (77.8) | |
| Cannabis smoking status | 0.47 | ||
| Current | 0 | 2 (22.2) | |
| Never | 7 (100) | 7 (77.8) | |
| E-cigarette smoking status | 1.00 | ||
| Current | 0 | 1 (11.1) | |
| Never | 7 (100) | 8 (88.9) | |
| SGRQ, total | 45.0 (33.1–69.1) | 2.1 (1.0–5.7) | <0.001 |
| Symptoms | 42.7 (40.8–44.1) | 5.7 (0–8.8) | <0.001 |
| Activity | 60.4 (48.3–86.5) | 0 (0–12.2) | <0.001 |
| Impact | 32.5 (21.0–63.6) | 0 (0–0) | <0.001 |
| Pulmonary function testing | |||
| FVC L | 4.0 (3.0–5.4) | 4.0 (3.8–4.8) | 1.00 |
| FVC % predicted | 108.6 (101.6–114.6) | 117.8 (106.6–126.5) | 0.19 |
| FEV1 L | 3.0 (2.4–4.2) | 3.4 (3.0–4.1) | 0.48 |
| FEV1 % predicted | 110.7 (94.7–117.1) | 117.7 (106.3–125.0) | 0.11 |
| FEV1/FVC % | 80.6 (76.8–84.4) | 81.0 (79.8–86.9) | 0.66 |
| DLCO % predicted | 96.9 (83.8–102.5) | 108.1 (100.7–112.2) | 0.13 |
| Blood cell counts | |||
| White blood cells ×109 cells·L−1 | 5.3 (4.7–6.5) | 4.6 (4.5–5.1) | 0.31 |
| Neutrophils % | 56.4 (52.1–58.5) | 55.7 (53.9–61.7) | 1.00 |
| Lymphocytes % | 32.5 (30.4–38.5) | 32.3 (28.4–34.9) | 0.60 |
| Monocytes % | 5.1 (4.0–6.4) | 4.3 (4.1–4.9) | 0.60 |
| Eosinophils % | 2.2 (1.6–3.1) | 2.0 (1.9–4.2) | 0.49 |
| Basophils % | 0.6 (0.5–0.9) | 0.5 (0.4–0.7) | 0.59 |
| BAL differential cell count# | |||
| Macrophage % | 79 (76–95) | 86 (77–93) | 0.79 |
| Lymphocytes % | 18 (4–20) | 8 (4–16) | 0.59 |
| Neutrophils % | 1 (0–3) | 2 (1–5) | 0.37 |
| Eosinophils % | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | 0.37 |
| Days from COVID-19 infection to bronchoscopy | 711 (444–832) | 556 (374–703)¶ | 0.35 |
Data are presented as n, median (interquartile range) or n (%), unless otherwise stated. BMI: body mass index; SGRQ: St George's Respiratory Questionnaire; FVC: forced vital capacity; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; DLCO: diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide; BAL: bronchoalveolar lavage; COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019. #: the percentages of each type of leukocyte present in the BAL fluid; ¶: the time from infection to bronchoscopy for individuals in the control group who are post-COVID, but do not report any persistent pulmonary symptoms (n=4).