Pulmonary Vascular Function Post COVID-19
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pulmonary Vascular Function Post COVID-19
IRAS ID
287550
Contact name
Jay Suntharalingam
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Royal United Hospitals, Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 11 months, 22 days
Research summary
Although large case series and full epidemiological data are currently lacking due to the scale and evolving nature of the pandemic, early published case series have demonstrated an increased prevalence of acute pulmonary vascular disease in patients admitted with COVID-19 (Klok et al, 2020). The population prevalence has not yet been completely demonstrated but some case series have put the prevalence as high as 20% in patients admitted to ICU (Poissy et al, 2020).
Many questions remain about the pathophysiology of the acute pulmonary vascular disease observed in patients with COVID-19, and how best to follow-up this cohort of patients. It is not clear what proportion of these patients will develop longterm sequelae such as pulmonary hypertension (PH).
Given the widespread nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, if there is evidence of long term pulmonary vascular dysfunction for even a small proportion of the patients admitted then this would represent a significant number of patients who will require follow-up.
Additionally, there are established treatments for pulmonary vascular dysfunction in other well-described patient groups (for example, Chronic Thrombo-Embolic Pulmonary Hypertension). If we can better characterise those patients with COVID-19 who subsequently experience long term pulmonary vascular consequences, this will allow us to identify potential treatments for this patient group.
We therefore propose to recruit patients with possible post-COVID-19 pulmonary vascular disease who are referred to one of the UK pulmonary hypertension national research network centres. We will analyse routinely gathered clinical data and cardiothoracic imaging, and will perform additional blood tests and cardio-pulmonary exercise testing, in order to explore any potential persistent structural and functional changes within the pulmonary vasculature and heart and their physiological impact. We hope to gain a better understanding of the potential scale of the problem and the underlying disease mechanisms, and ultimately to establish potential therapeutic targets.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/SC/0407
Date of REC Opinion
8 Dec 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion