Medical imaging has revealed that COVID-19 can, in some cases, “cause the body to attack itself,” marking the first glimpse of what lies behind severe, long-lasting, and sometimes bizarre mysterious symptoms – even in those who never knew they had contracted the virus, a new study found.
From rheumatoid arthritis to autoimmune problems to “COVID toes”, there have been several reports of unusual and potentially related symptoms associated with coronavirus symptoms, many of which were a mystery during the pandemic.
But, according to a Northwestern medical study, radiological imaging “confirmed and illustrated for the first time the causes of these symptoms.”
“We have realized that the COVID virus can trigger the body to attack in various ways, which can lead to rheumatic problems that require lifelong management,” said author Dr. Swati Deshmukh in a statement.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Skeletal Radiology, showed that CT, MRI and ultrasound imaging may explain why some patients suffer from “prolonged musculoskeletal symptoms” after contracting the virus.
“Many patients with musculoskeletal disorders related to COVID recover, but for some people, their symptoms become severe, profoundly affect the patient or affect their quality of life, leading them to seek medical and imaging care,” Deshmukh, assistant professor of Musculoskeletal radiology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern musculoskeletal radiologist, he said. This image allows us to see if the muscle and joint pain related to COVID, for example, are not just body pains similar to those we see from the flu – but something more insidious. ”
In some cases, imaging may even suggest that a patient had COVID-19, but otherwise did not know they had it, the study found.
According to Deshmukh, experts are looking for fluids or swelling in tissues, blood collections or gangrene.
“In some patients, the nerves are injured, and in others, the problem is impaired blood flow,” Deshmukh said.
Bizarre symptoms such as “COVID toes”, which in some cases can last for months, have been reported throughout the pandemic, although they are not as widespread as other common symptoms associated with the virus.
According to the study, however, there was a “surprising number of extra-pulmonary manifestations” associated with the virus, along with emerging reports of other abnormalities and musculoskeletal disorders, which “can have terrible short- and long-term consequences.”
Such a long-term inflammation recently appeared in the headlines after Gwyneth Paltrow revealed that she suffers from certain conditions for months after the initial diagnosis.
“I had COVID-19 in the beginning and it left me with some long tail fatigue and brain fog,” Paltrow wrote in a recent post for her website, Goop.
Paltrow said he had tests in January that showed he had “very high levels of inflammation in my body.”
Researchers in the Northwestern study said they hope their findings will help doctors properly treat certain rare conditions that can come with a diagnosis of coronavirus.
“I think it’s important to differentiate between what causes the virus directly and what triggers the body to do it,” Deshmukh said. “It’s important for doctors to know what’s going on to treat it properly.”