Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles have revealed that the consequences of organ damage in patients with long-term COVID persist in 59 percent of cases a year after the onset of symptoms, even if there were no serious lesions during the infection itself. The results of the study were published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

The study involved 536 patients infected with coronavirus, 13 percent of whom were hospitalized at the first diagnosis of COVID-19. Of 536 patients, 331 (62 percent) had organ involvement six months after initial diagnosis. These patients were followed up six months later with a 40-minute multi-organ MRI scan.

Twenty-nine percent of patients with long-term COVID had multiple organ dysfunction with persistent symptoms and reduced function at six and twelve months. Fifty-nine percent of patients with long-term COVID had at least one organ involvement 12 months after initial diagnosis.

The study reported a reduction in symptoms over a period of six to 12 months. Thus, the incidence of severe shortness of breath fell from 38 to 30 percent, cognitive dysfunction from 48 to 38 percent, and poor health-related quality of life from 57 to 45 percent. The mechanisms underlying long-term COVID remain unclear, but research shows that the post-COVID state affects long-term health and quality of life.