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World J Radiol. Jun 28, 2021; 13(6): 149-156
Published online Jun 28, 2021. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v13.i6.149
Thoracic imaging outcomes in COVID-19 survivors
Jaber S Alqahtani, Saeed M Alghamdi, Abdulelah M Aldhahir, Malik Althobiani, Reynie Purnama Raya, Tope Oyelade
Jaber S Alqahtani, Department of Respiratory Care, Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences, Dammam 3431, Saudi Arabia
Jaber S Alqahtani, Malik Althobiani, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom
Saeed M Alghamdi, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21990, Saudi Arabia
Abdulelah M Aldhahir, Respiratory Care Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University, Jazan 4514, Saudi Arabia
Malik Althobiani, Department of Respiratory Therapy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia
Reynie Purnama Raya, Faculty of Science, Universitas 'Aisyiyah Bandung, Bandung 40264, Indonesia
Reynie Purnama Raya, Institute for Global Health, Division of Medicine, University College London, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom
Tope Oyelade, Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, Division of Medicine, University College London, London NW3 2PF, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Alqahtani JS contributed conceptualization, data collection, formal analysis, project administration, wrote original draft, reviewed and edited the manuscript; Alghamdi SM, Aldhahir AM and Oyelade T contributed data collection, formal analysis, reviewed and edited the manuscript; Althobiani M and Raya RP reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jaber S Alqahtani, MSc, Academic Research, Lecturer, Department of Respiratory Care, Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences, Dhahran, Dammam 3431, Saudi Arabia. Alqahtani-Jaber@hotmail.com
Received: January 28, 2021
Peer-review started: January 28, 2021
First decision: May 6, 2021
Revised: May 13, 2021
Accepted: June 2, 2021
Article in press: June 2, 2021
Published online: June 28, 2021
Processing time: 147 Days and 14.8 Hours
Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents a significant global public health challenge. One in five individuals with COVID-19 presents with symptoms that last for weeks after hospital discharge, a condition termed “long COVID”. Thus, efficient follow-up of patients is needed to assess the resolution of lung pathologies and systemic involvement. Thoracic imaging is multimodal and involves using different forms of waves to produce images of the organs within the thorax. In general, it includes chest X-ray, computed tomography, lung ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging techniques. Such modalities have been useful in the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19. These tools have also allowed for the follow-up and assessment of long COVID. This review provides insights on the effectiveness of thoracic imaging techniques in the follow-up of COVID-19 survivors who had long COVID.

Keywords: Long COVID; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Thoracic imaging; Computed tomography; Survivors; Chest X-ray; Lung ultrasound

Core Tip: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic presents a significant global public health challenge. One in five individuals with COVID-19 presents with symptoms that last for weeks after hospital discharge, a condition termed “long COVID”. This review provides insights on findings of thoracic imaging techniques in the follow-up of COVID-19 survivors who had long COVID.