Evaluating the Long-Term Pulmonary Effects of Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A Multicenter Prospective Study
1AHMAD ZEESHAN, 2Umar Tipu,3Faiza Maqsood, 4Haroon Raja, 5Tahmoor Ghori, 6Tabassum Raja
Submission: 10 January 2026 | Acceptance: 10 February 2026 | Publication: 10 March 2026,
1ASSISTANT PROFESSOR MEDICINE, ALLIED HOSPITAL FAISAL ABAD MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
2Assistant Professor, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad
3Assistant Professor, Bolan Medical College, Quetta
4Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad
5Bolan Medical College, Quetta
6Assistant Professor, Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad
ABSTRACT:
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic that spread worldwide has left a substantial part of the cured population with post-sickness symptoms that have come to be known under the terms post-COVID-19 syndrome or long COVID. Among them, chronic respiratory complications were recurrently reported. Nevertheless, the longevity of the pulmonary impact of COVID-19 was still poorly comprehended, particularly in low-resource health care.
Objective: The paper was meant to assess the long-term pulmonary sequelae in patients who recovered of having COVID-19, with particular references to hypoxemia during physical exercise and persistent respiratory symptoms, radiological alterations, and impairment of functional pulmonary.
Methods: This is an observational study in terms of prospective design carried out by the researchers in a multicentric study in Timergara Teaching Hospital, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). One hundred and ten participants, who had recovered after testing positive to COVID-19, were enrolled. The participants were observed during a 12-month course and assessed using clinical assessments, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest, spirometry, and diffusion capacity tests. The demographic, comorbidity, COVID-19 severity, and oxygen dependence data were sources of information that were analyzed and later used to correlate the clinical profiles to the long-term outcomes.
Results: Of all 110 participants surveyed, 68 (61.8%) maintained coughs, dyspnea, and chest tightness more than three months after recovery. Fibertic-like alterations found by HRCT were observed in 33 patients (30%), and the restrictive pattern was revealed by spirometry in 28 patients (25.5%) as well as mixed pattern in 12 (10.9%). Twenty-six people (23.6%) had reduced diffusion capacity. Longitudinal pulmonary impairments were much more likely to develop among patients who previously experienced COVID-19 moderate to severe symptoms forcing hospitalization and additional oxygen administration (p<0.01).
Conclusion: The study confirmed that a considerable part of post-COVID-19 patients had sustained lung abnormalities such as the morphological and functional impairment of the lungs. The results underscored the importance of the long-term respiratory follow-up and rehabilitation programs particularly in the affected persons with severe primary infections.
Keywords: Post-COVID-19 syndrome, long COVID, pulmonary function, HRCT, respiratory sequelae, spirometry, lung fibrosis, Timergara Teaching Hospital