The new Northwestern University study, published Feb. 17 in the journal Skeletal Radiology, detailed how different types of imaging, including ultrasound, X-rays, MRIs and CT scans, can confirm how the body attacks itself.
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“What we found is that in some patients with COVID-19, the virus triggers an autoimmune reaction. In other words, the virus tricks the body into attacking itself,” said Dr. Swati Deshmukh, author and assistant professor at Northwestern University School of Medicine. Feinberg Medicine.
When the body attacks itself, radiological images, some using contrast, can show inflamed nerves or dead tissue, the study showed.
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It also shows how the impact of COVID-19 can last for months, which Tajma Hodzik, 31, of Albany Park, is facing right now. She battled COVID-19 in June 2020, but its impact was long-lasting, triggering an autoimmune disease called COVID-induced psoriatic arthritis.
“My whole body and all the joints in my body were inflamed. I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t do anything independently. I couldn’t take a shower, I could eat on the floor,” Hodzik recalled. The pain sent her to the hospital for the second time in 2020.
Hodzik explains psoriatic arthritis in this way: “It’s an autoimmune disease. It’s about two parts. The psoriasis piece is the spots and rashes on my body. Arthritis is what we think of, arthritis as a chronic condition.”
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Radiological images attract the attention of an expert to understand. Dr. Deshmukh studied various images from other patients with COVID-19, including inflamed nerves, dead and damaged tissues, blood clots and damaged joints.
In general, these images can help doctors make medical decisions for their patients, she said.
“Based on what the imaging shows, we can then recommend the next best steps for diagnosis, treatment and management through this long road to recovery,” said Dr. Deshmukh. “For this reason, radiologists are sometimes nicknamed the doctor’s doctor.”
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Although imaging helps explain the problem, Hodzic is still concerned about the future and what it means for her recovery, especially since she is taking medication now to control her psoriatic arthritis.
“We don’t know. We don’t know if this will last as long as I live, next year, two years, five years,” she said. Or if I can get sick of drugs. She’s a pretty big unknown right now.
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