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

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

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Clinical Medicine is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.