Ther Adv Respir Dis
May 2022
Purpose: We aimed to better understand the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia in non-critically ill hospitalized patients secondarily presenting with clinical deterioration and increase in oxygen requirement without any identified worsening factors.
Methods: We consecutively enrolled patients without clinical or biological evidence for superinfection, without left ventricular dysfunction and for whom a pulmonary embolism was discarded by computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography. We investigated lung ventilation and perfusion (LVP) by LVP scintigraphy, and, 24 h later, left and right ventricular function by Tc-99m-labeled albumin-gated blood-pool scintigraphy with late (60 mn) tomographic albumin images on the lungs to evaluate lung albumin retention that could indicate microvascular injuries with secondary edema.