Long-term clinical and biochemical residue after COVID-19 recovery

Abstract

Background: The long-term health consequences of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are still unclear. The majority of previous trials addressed the post-COVID-19 symptoms through comprehensive medical questionnaires for relatively short periods after recovery. We tried to detect the potential pathological clinical signs and biochemical residue which persist for more than 3 months after the negative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test of SARS-CoV-2. Results: Among 120 COVID-19 survivors of mean age 38.29 and 55.6% male proportion, systolic blood pressure was significantly elevated (P=0.001). Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer showed higher values in COVID-19 survivors (P< 0.001). Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma-glutamyl trans-peptidase (GGT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were significantly elevated in contrast to serum albumin that was reduced in COVID-19 survivors (P ≤0.001). Serum lipase, amylase and albuminuria were higher in COVID-19 survivors (P ≤0.001). Regression analysis (AOR, 95% CI) showed that ESR (P = 0.014), haemoglobin concentration (P = 0.039), serum lipase (P= 0.018), blood urea nitrogen (P= 0.003), albuminuria (P= 0.046), 25(OH) vitamin D (P= 0.002), and serum uric acid (P= 0.005) were the significant predictors of COVID-19 survivors (94.8% an overall prediction). Conclusion: COVID-19 survivors experienced residual significant clinical and biochemical alterations that necessitate comprehensive medical care and close follow-up for longer periods.