To the Editor,
We read with great interest the paper by Valent et al. [1] reporting the quality of life at 3 months after a severe COVID-19 episode in a French cohort. This timely topic research highlighted that up to 80% of survivors reported pain or discomfort in their daily life, and almost half of the patients complained about mental health disturbances and worsened mobility due to muscular weakness and articular pain. The knowledge of the long-term clinical consequences of COVID-19 infection appears to be fundamental for a deeper comprehension of the disease. As known, in COVID-19 critical ill patients, the onset of an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) represents a severe complication, which is related with a higher mortality rate [2], [3]. As a matter of fact, the larger part of medical literature on pulmonary effects of COVID-19 infection has mainly focused in the pathophysiology and clinical outcomes of these but unfortunately, after about 10 months of pandemic, no data have been presented on the long-term clinical consequences of COVID-19 infection in survivors who experienced a severe form of the disease with ARDS. It appears clear that the report by Valent et al. offers a starting point for a first reflection regarding the need of urgent and multicentre studies examining the clinical consequences in both the mid- and long-term period among COVID-19 survivors, because this sequelae can impact not only work capacity but also quality of life in the long-term.
A recent analysis by Neufeld et al. observed that among acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) survivors from the ARDS Network Long-Term Outcomes Study (ALTOS), during the first year of follow-up, more than two-thirds of patients reported clinically significant fatigue symptoms [4]. Although the authors explored patients without previous COVID-19 infection, could the same sequelae be present also in COVID-19 survivors? Further studies exploring the long-term clinical consequences of COVID-19 infection are urgently needed to ameliorate and event promote long-term follow-up in these patients.
Financial support
None declared.
Disclosure of interest
None of the authors have conflicts of interest to declare.
References
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