Not just pneumonia

Scientists have stated that COVID-19 is not pneumonia, but a multisystem disease

Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+

SARS-CoV-2 affects many internal organs, not just the human respiratory system, as was commonly believed at the beginning of the epidemic. Scientists from Columbia University presented the first scientific review of COVID-19 complications on the human body outside the lungs. The data show that the virus affects many parts, including the heart, kidneys and central nervous system.

A team of researchers from Columbia University (USA) has combined the medical data of patients with COVID-19 and formulated clinical guidelines on the main complications of the virus on the human body outside the respiratory system. Doctors should think of COVID-19 as a multisystem disease, said the first author of the article, Aakriti Gupta. Their work is the first comprehensive review of non-respiratory lesions of internal organs in coronavirus infection.

Article by Gupta et al. Extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19 is published in the journal Nature Medicine – VM.

"Today we see many reports that COVID-19 disrupts blood clotting, affects the kidneys, heart, brain. Doctors should treat these complications along with respiratory manifestations," Gupta commented.

One of the main manifestations of COVID-19 on the cardiovascular system is a blood clotting disorder, which is caused by the virus attacking the cells lining the vessels. Such an effect increases inflammation, blood begins to form clots and thereby disrupt the work of many organs. On the other hand, inflammation can over-stimulate the immune system, triggering many pathological processes.

Another important complication of COVID-19 is on the heart. In this case, the virus acts directly on the heart muscle cells, and attacks in other ways. While the exact mechanism of this effect has not been determined, however, most likely, the work of the organ is disrupted by systemic inflammation and excessive immune response, the authors believe.

Throughout the epidemic and until now, doctors have recorded a large number of patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit with acute kidney damage.

For example, in hospitals in New York, kidney failure developed in about half of patients in intensive care. "About 5-10% of them needed dialysis and this is a very high figure," Gupta stressed.

While there is no data on long-term kidney damage, however, it is likely that a significant proportion of such patients will need regular dialysis, the researchers say.

Complications on the nervous system occurred in about a third of patients.

Among the main ones, scientists identified dizziness, loss of sense of smell, strokes, hallucinations and other manifestations.

"Scientists around the world are working with incredible speed to understand how SARS-CoV-2 specifically attacks human biological mechanisms. We hope that our work will help in the development of more effective approaches in the treatment of COVID-19," concluded study co–author Kartik Segal.

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