The Impact of Iron Dyshomeostasis and Anaemia on Long-Term Pulmonary Recovery and Persisting Symptom Burden after COVID-19..., 2022, Sonnweber et al

Full title: The Impact of Iron Dyshomeostasis and Anaemia on Long-Term Pulmonary Recovery and Persisting Symptom Burden after COVID-19: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is frequently associated with iron dyshomeostasis. The latter is related to acute disease severity and COVID-19 convalescence. We herein describe iron dyshomeostasis at COVID-19 follow-up and its association with long-term pulmonary and symptomatic recovery. The prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study “Development of Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) in Patients With Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection (CovILD)” encompasses serial extensive clinical, laboratory, functional and imaging evaluations at 60, 100, 180 and 360 days after COVID-19 onset.

We included 108 individuals with mild-to-critical acute COVID-19, whereas 75% presented with severe acute disease. At 60 days post-COVID-19 follow-up, hyperferritinaemia (35% of patients), iron deficiency (24% of the cohort) and anaemia (9% of the patients) were frequently found. Anaemia of inflammation (AI) was the predominant feature at early post-acute follow-up, whereas the anaemia phenotype shifted towards iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and combinations of IDA and AI until the 360 days follow-up. The prevalence of anaemia significantly decreased over time, but iron dyshomeostasis remained a frequent finding throughout the study. Neither iron dyshomeostasis nor anaemia were related to persisting structural lung impairment, but both were associated with impaired stress resilience at long-term COVID-19 follow-up.

To conclude, iron dyshomeostasis and anaemia are frequent findings after COVID-19 and may contribute to its long-term symptomatic outcome.

Open access, https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/12/6/546/htm

 

I would suggest that these problems are very common after any illness or accident or surgery, not just Covid-19. The worse the person's original health problem the worse the iron problems will be and the longer they are likely to last.