Scientists at Northwestern University in Chicago have discovered that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus can cause irreversible damage to the lungs, and a patient can only be saved from such consequences with the help of their transplant. An article with the results of scientific work was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The researchers analyzed lung tissue from three patients who required lung transplantation due to persistent respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and from two people who died from pneumonia associated with coronavirus for the presence of RNA virus. In addition, experts studied the state of the lung tissue itself, including the RNA produced by individual cells.
Analysis revealed extensive lesions and fibrosis that resembled end-stage lung fibrosis. The researchers also compared RNA sequencing data from lung cells of patients with advanced stage COVID-19 with data obtained from the analysis of lungs of patients with pulmonary fibrosis, and found similarities in gene expression in different cell clones. Thus, some people with severe COVID-19 develop fibrotic lung disease and for them lung transplantation is the only option for survival.