A CRITICALLY APPRAISED TOPIC: IS THERE AN EFFECTIVE POST-COVID PULMONARY FIBROSIS TREATMENT

Background: the COVID-19 infection induces interstitial lung remodeling after the development of restrictive respiratory distress syndrome, which endures the affected individuals a higher risk for hospitalization and intensive care unit admission from the developed pulmonary fibrosis. Thus, we reviewed the literature for an effective post-covid pulmonary fibrosis treatment.

Methods: PubMed, MEDLINE, and ClinicalKey databases were searched using Medical Subject Headings [MeSH] from November 2019 to Jun 2022 to include human-only studies on confirmed COVID-19 patients via PCR with radiological evidence of interstitial fibrosis. We excluded studies that have pre-existing pulmonary fibrosis patients.

Results: We identified a total of 137 studies. Continuing the title and abstract screening later, we included eight papers for analysis in our review. We found efficacious medication for post-covid pulmonary fibrosis, such as Anakinra, Nintedanib, and human embryonic stem cell-derived immunity- and matrix-regulatory cells (hESC- IMRCs). Moreover, it was tested on a small sample of participants, and the results are promising and safe that can be tested on more extensive randomized trials.

Recommendation: interventional pre-and-post randomized controlled trials shall be conducted to inform further action to reduce morbidity and mortality for such a population.