Professors Jim Wild and Fergus Gleeson from Universities of Sheffield and Oxford wanted to know more about coronavirus lung damage. And why patients remain short-breathed after recovering from pneumonia and discharge from hospital. They have now gained fresh insight into COVID-19 lung damage after using the Hyperpolarized Xenon MRI technique. That’s because this allows them to observe impairment to oxygen uptake in the lungs.
MRI Imaging Gives Fresh Insight Into COVID-19 Lung Damage
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allows doctors to form pictures of the anatomy, and physiological processes of the body. However, hyperpolarized Xenon MRI is a specialized application of this technique. The patient inhales a small, measured quantity of harmless Xenon gas with a highly-aligned nuclear magnetic spin.
This technique then enhances the quality of a normal lung MRI scan by a factor of 100,000. As a consequence, the operator obtains more crystal-clear images of the patient’s lungs. This enables them to identify poorly-ventilated areas. Thus this technology provided professors Wild and Gleeson with the fresh insight into COVID-19 lung damage they needed.
Xenon MRI Research Program – Ground Breaking Lung Imaging
Professor Fergus Gleeson who is leading the COVID-19 work asked 10 patients aged 19 to 69 to assist. Eight of them reported persistent shortness of breath, and tiredness three months after being ill with the coronavirus. Although none of them went into intensive care or on ventilators. But the Hyperpolarized Xenon MRI scan revealed damage not seen before.
All eight subjects reporting breathlessness had lung damage in areas where air was not flowing easily into their blood. Hitherto we had thought the risk of severe illness and death increased markedly for the over 60s. However, if a larger test in planning reveals lung damage in younger people, then that would ‘move the goal posts’ professor Gleeson says.
Related
Life of an Intensive Care Nurse in Michigan
How Would We Know If We Had COVID-19?
Preview Image: Hidden Damage to Lungs
Video Share Link: https://youtu.be/dv3xRWU8_qc
