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Sequelae of COVID-19: Clinical to Prognostic Follow-Up

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Vascular Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 697

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Center of Molecular Research in Nephrology and Vascular Disease, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Victor Babes” Timisoara, E. Murgu Square, Nr. 2, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
Interests: arterial hypertension; coronary artery disease; heart failure; pulmonary hypertension; cardiovascular alterations in patients with other pathologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department VII, Internal Medicine II, Discipline of Cardiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Victor Babes” Timisoara, E. Murgu Square, Nr. 2, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
2. Centre of Molecular Research in Nephrology and Vascular Disease, University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Vic-tor Babes” Timisoara, E. Murgu Square, Nr. 2, 300041 Timisoara, Romania
3. County Emergency Hospital “Pius Brinzeu”, L. Rebreanu, Nr. 156, 300723 Timisoara, Romania
Interests: pulmonary hypertension; heart failure; heart rate variability; myocarditis; pericarditis; COVID-19 and post-acute COVID-19 syndrome
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when increasing numbers of patients were observed to have an unusually long and difficult recovery after an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, researchers suspected that COVID-19 could have long-lasting sequelae. In 2020, post-acute COVID-19 syndrome was first mentioned in the medical literature, defined by the persistence of symptoms between 3 weeks and 3 months after an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. Unfortunately, this was just the "tip of the iceberg", as several of these patients continued to present complaints or even new symptoms that occurred up to 6 months after contracting the SARS-CoV-2 infection. These subjects were diagnosed as having long COVID, which, according to the World Health Organization, has an incidence of 10–20% of all patients recovering from COVID-19. The symptoms cover a large spectrum since various systems and organs can be affected during the acute infection. The most frequently encountered sequelae are respiratory ones such as interstitial pulmonary fibrosis resulting in respiratory insufficiency, followed by multiple cardiovascular dysfunctions, with the most severe being pulmonary hypertension and chronic heart failure, not to forget neurological and psychiatric alterations, but also the renal, metabolic, hematological, or even gastrointestinal consequences of this disease. It should be mentioned that these sequelae rarely appear isolated; they are frequently associated and interrelated, severely affecting patients′ quality of life.

This Special Issue aims to focus on new insights concerning the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, diagnosis, management, and complex treatment of COVID-19 sequelae. We welcome the submission of original articles, reviews, and clinical trials focused on new approaches to COVID-19 syndromes.

Dr. Mariana Tudoran
Dr. Cristina Tudoran
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • post-COVID-19 syndromes
  • sequelae of COVID-19
  • pathophysiological pathways
  • multiorgan sequelae
  • long-term management of post-COVID-19 syndromes
  • quality of life
  • long-term prognosis of COVID-19

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 1079 KiB  
Article
Symptomatic Trends and Time to Recovery for Long COVID Patients Infected During the Omicron Phase
by Hiroshi Akiyama, Yasue Sakurada, Hiroyuki Honda, Yui Matsuda, Yuki Otsuka, Kazuki Tokumasu, Yasuhiro Nakano, Ryosuke Takase, Daisuke Omura, Keigo Ueda and Fumio Otsuka
J. Clin. Med. 2025, 14(14), 4918; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm14144918 - 11 Jul 2025
Viewed by 469
Abstract
Background: Since the pathophysiology of long COVID is not yet fully understood, there are no specific methods for its treatment; however, its individual symptoms can currently be treated. Long COVID is characterized by symptoms that persist at least 2 to 3 months after [...] Read more.
Background: Since the pathophysiology of long COVID is not yet fully understood, there are no specific methods for its treatment; however, its individual symptoms can currently be treated. Long COVID is characterized by symptoms that persist at least 2 to 3 months after contracting COVID-19, although it is difficult to predict how long such symptoms may persist. Methods: In the present study, 774 patients who first visited our outpatient clinic during the Omicron period from February 2022 to October 2024 were divided into two groups: the early recovery (ER) group (370 cases; 47.8%), who recovered in less than 180 days (median 33 days), and the persistent-symptom (PS) group (404 cases; 52.2%), who had symptoms that persisted for more than 180 days (median 437 days). The differences in clinical characteristics between these two groups were evaluated. Results: Although the median age of the two groups did not significantly differ (40 and 42 in ER and PS groups, respectively), the ratio of female patients was significantly higher in the PS group than the ER group (59.4% vs. 47.3%). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of the period after infection, habits, BMI, severity of COVID-19, and vaccination history. Notably, at the first visit, female patients in the PS group had a significantly higher rate of complaints of fatigue, insomnia, memory disturbance, and paresthesia, while male patients in the PS group showed significantly higher rates of fatigue and headache complaints. Patients with more than three symptoms at the first visit were predominant in the PS groups in both genders. Notably, one to two symptoms were predominant in the male ER group, while two to three symptoms were mostly reported in the female PS group. Moreover, the patients in the PS group had significantly higher scores for physical and mental fatigue and for depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Collectively, these results suggest that long-lasting long COVID is related to the number of symptoms and presents gender-dependent differences. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sequelae of COVID-19: Clinical to Prognostic Follow-Up)
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