TY - JOUR

T1 - Silent Hypoxia in Patients with SARS CoV-2 Infection before Hospital Discharge

AU - Fuglebjerg, Natascha Josephine Ulstrand

AU - Jensen, Tomas Oestergaard

AU - Hoyer, Nils

AU - Ryrsø, Camilla Koch

AU - Lindegaard, Birgitte

AU - Barrella Harboe, Zitta

N1 - Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/10/1

Y1 - 2020/10/1

N2 - OBJECTIVE: To assess the degree of hypoxia and subjective dyspnoea elicited by a 6-minute walking test (6 MWT) in COVID-19 patients prior to discharge.METHODS: A 6 MWT was performed in 26 discharge-ready COVID-19 patients without chronic pulmonary disease or cardiac failure. Heart rate, oxyhaemoglobin saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate, and subjective dyspnoea measured on the Borg CR-10 scale, were measured before and immediately after the 6 MWT with continuously monitoring of SpO2 and heart rate during the 6 MWT. The 6 MWT was terminated if SpO2 declined below 90%. A historical cohort of 204 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were used for comparison.RESULTS: 13 (50%) COVID-19 patients developed exercise-induced hypoxia (SpO2 < 90%) during the 6 MWT of which one third had pulmonary embolism. COVID-19 patients experienced less hypoxia-related dyspnoea during the 6 MWT compared to patients with IPF.CONCLUSION: The 6 MWT is a potential tool in the diagnosis of asymptomatic exercise-induced hypoxia in hospitalized COVID-19 patients prior to discharge. Due to important methodological limitations, further studies are needed to confirm our findings and to investigate their clinical consequences.

AB - OBJECTIVE: To assess the degree of hypoxia and subjective dyspnoea elicited by a 6-minute walking test (6 MWT) in COVID-19 patients prior to discharge.METHODS: A 6 MWT was performed in 26 discharge-ready COVID-19 patients without chronic pulmonary disease or cardiac failure. Heart rate, oxyhaemoglobin saturation (SpO2), respiratory rate, and subjective dyspnoea measured on the Borg CR-10 scale, were measured before and immediately after the 6 MWT with continuously monitoring of SpO2 and heart rate during the 6 MWT. The 6 MWT was terminated if SpO2 declined below 90%. A historical cohort of 204 patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were used for comparison.RESULTS: 13 (50%) COVID-19 patients developed exercise-induced hypoxia (SpO2 < 90%) during the 6 MWT of which one third had pulmonary embolism. COVID-19 patients experienced less hypoxia-related dyspnoea during the 6 MWT compared to patients with IPF.CONCLUSION: The 6 MWT is a potential tool in the diagnosis of asymptomatic exercise-induced hypoxia in hospitalized COVID-19 patients prior to discharge. Due to important methodological limitations, further studies are needed to confirm our findings and to investigate their clinical consequences.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089693345&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.07.014

DO - 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.07.014

M3 - Journal article

VL - 99

SP - 100

EP - 101

JO - International Journal of Infectious Diseases

JF - International Journal of Infectious Diseases

SN - 1201-9712

ER -