Gas Exchange Impairment During COVID-19 Recovery.

Background: Persistent impairment of pulmonary function and exercise capacity has been known to last for months or even years in the survivors who recovered from other coronavirus pneumonia. Some reports showed that subjects with coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia after being discharged could have several sequelae, but there are few studies on gas exchange and exercise capacity complications in these subjects.

Aims: To describe residual gas exchange abnormalities during recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 pneumonia.

[Follow-up of patients after COVID-19 pneumonia. Pulmonary sequelae].

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 that has caused an unprecedented pandemic with a high rate of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although most cases are mild, there are a considerable number of patients who develop pneumonia or even acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). After having recovered from the initial disease, many patients continue with various symptoms (fatigue, dry cough, fever, dyspnea, anosmia, and chest pain, among others.

Functional Respiratory Evaluation in the COVID-19 Era: The Role of Pulmonary Function Test Laboratories.

The pandemic character of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) requires strategy changes designed to guarantee the safety of patients and health-care professionals. We are greatly concerned by the limitations in the operation of pulmonary function test (PFT) laboratories, since there is a high risk of disease progression in patients with chronic pulmonary diseases, and we are now faced by the influx of a new group of individuals in the recovery phase of post-COVID-19-syndrome that requires evaluation and follow-up of their respiratory function. To reestablish the operation of PFT laboratories limiting the risk of cross-contamination, we herein present the consensus reached by a group of experts in respiratory physiology, most of whom work in PFT laboratories in several Latin American countries, on the applicable recommendations for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pneumonia survivors when undergoing PFT.