Acute Crit Care.  2024 Feb;39(1):100-107. 10.4266/acc.2023.00668.

Factors related to lung function outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients in South Korea

• Kim TH
• Song MJ
• Lim SY
• Lee YJ
• Cho YJ

• KMID: 2555228
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4266/acc.2023.00668

Abstract

Background
New variants of the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continue to emerge. However, little is known about the effect of these variants on clinical outcomes. This study evaluated the risk factors for poor pulmonary lung function test (PFT). Methods: The study retrospectively analyzed 87 patients in a single hospital and followed up by performing PFTs at an outpatient clinic from January 2020 to December 2021. COVID-19 variants were categorized as either a non-delta variant (November 13, 2020–July 6, 2021) or the delta variant (July 7, 2021–January 29, 2022). Results: The median age of the patients was 62 years, and 56 patients (64.4%) were male. Mechanical ventilation (MV) was provided for 52 patients, and 36 (41.4%) had restrictive lung defects. Forced vital capacity (FVC) and diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO ) were lower in patients on MV. Male sex (odds ratio [OR], 0.228) and MV (OR, 4.663) were significant factors for decreased DLCO . The duration of MV was associated with decreased FVC and DLCO . However, the type of variant did not affect the decrease in FVC (P=0.750) and DLCO (P=0.639). Conclusions: Among critically ill COVID-19 patients, 40% had restrictive patterns with decreased DLCO . The reduction of PFT was associated with MV, type of variants.

Keyword

COVID-19; mechanical ventilation; pulmonary function test; risk factor; variant

Figure

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  Figure 1. Application of respiratory support of the participants. COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019; ECMO: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

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