A trauma surgeon from Texas says it is rare for x-rays of any of her COVID-19 patients to come back without dense scars. Dr Brittany Bankhead-Kendall tweeted this, “Post-COVID lungs look worse than any horrible smoker’s lung we’ve ever seen. And they collapse. And they solidify. And the shortness of breath stays on … & on … & on.”
“Everyone is just as worried about the death case and it’s awful, and it’s awful,” she told CBS Dallas. “But man, it’s for all the survivors and the people who tested positive – it’s going to be a problem.”
She has treated thousands of patients since March.
Bankhead-Kendall, an assistant professor of surgery at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, says patients who have had COVID-19 symptoms show a severe chest pain each time, and those who have been asymptomatic show a severe X-ray. on the chest 70 to 80% of the time.
“There are still people who say, ‘I’m fine. I have no problems, “and you pull up their chest X-ray and they have absolutely a bad X-ray on the chest,” she said.
In this photo of a normal lung, smoker lung and a COVID-19 lung that dr. Bankhead-Kendall shared with CBS Dallas, the healthy lungs are clean with lots of black, which is mostly air. In the smoker’s lung, white lines indicate scarring and congestion – while the COVID lung is filled with white.
CBS Dallas
“You’ll see a lot of the white, dense scars, or you’ll see it through the whole lung. Even you do not feel problems now with the fact that it is on your X-ray on the chest – this is an indication of you may have problems later, “Bankhead-Kendall pointed out.
She said it is too early to know the extent of the effect of COVID-19 on your body or if the scars heal, but it is important that you stay in touch with your shortness of breath after your COVID-19 disappears. primary care physician.
She adds: “There are no long-term implications of a vaccine that could ever be as bad as the long-term implications of COVID.”