Lights appear in the picture to vary from light to tight.
Although the layman may not see the damage caused by the coronavirus from X-rays or computed tomography images at first glance, it is clear to the expert.
“There are a lot of wide-ranging, serious-looking changes in the lungs,” says the body radiologist and assistant chief physician Tiina-Talvikki Lehtimäki From Kuopio University Hospital. He has twenty years of experience viewing lung images.
The images published by HS are known to be the first images of a Finnish patient’s lungs published in the Finnish news media, devastated by a disease caused by a coronavirus.
The images show the lungs taken during hospitalization of two different patients.
Written, signed consent for the publication of images has been obtained from both patients. HS publishes images without mentioning the name and exact age of the patients.
Both patients were unvaccinated at the time of onset. Both underwent intensive care this year due to severe coronary heart disease.
The first patient is a man in the 30-39 age group. She was on a long, several-week intensive care period. She is on medication for a long-term illness, but it does not affect her ability to function in any way.
Lehtimäki does not know about the patients’ previous state of health, the duration or course of hospital or intensive care. He comments on the images as a radiologist at HS’s request.
“All images show large-scale lung changes caused by covid-19 disease. There are much more changes than normal lung tissue. ”
Already in the first hospital, the patient’s lung image shows dense spots suitable for covid-19 pneumonia.
“The left lung, shown in the picture on the right, has a particularly dense area of pneumonia. There is a lot of change in that, ”says Lehtimäki.
“The same is widely seen in the lungs. The lungs are too tight and there is less air than usual. ”
When looking at pictures, it is essential to pay attention to shades of gray. The tissue of healthy lungs is very airy. When taken as a picture of them inhaled, the air-filled tissue is dark gray in color. Normal structures such as the heart, pulmonary blood vessels, bones, muscles, and other soft tissue stand out in the images as lighter gray or almost white.
If the lung tissue in the picture is pale, there is more than just air. For example, inflammatory cells and fluid leaking into the lungs.
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The lungs are extensively damaged from top to bottom.
When a young man has been in the hospital for four days, the disease is getting worse. Sawing, which is typical of coronary patients, also occurs.
“Four days after the start of treatment, the changes in the lungs seem to be a little thinner. However, two days later, the patient’s situation has deteriorated again, according to the pictures. ”
In addition, the images reveal information about the patient’s condition: he has been in intensive care and the images have been taken in the supine position and in the abdominal position, which is used to treat severe oxidative disorder.
The patient’s heart is monitored and a breathing tube is inserted into the ventilator on the fourth day after starting treatment. The images also show a central venous catheter and a nasogastric tube.
After intensive care for about two weeks, computed tomography images are taken. They show the condition of the lungs in even more detail: the lungs are extensively damaged from top to bottom.
“The lungs should be in the picture as if two dark gray spheres or drops. In these images, very little normal lung tissue is seen here and there and the situation looks difficult. There is only a normal amount of air in a small part of a young patient’s lungs. ”
Another patient is a man in the 50-59 age group. He was also in intensive care due to severe coronary heart disease. He is in every way a typical patient in Finland who has to receive intensive care due to coronary heart disease. The patient has more than one medication for long-term illnesses, but his or her ability to function has also been excellent, he or she is in working life and is doing physically strenuous work.
Although the changes caused by coronary heart disease are widely seen in a patient’s lungs, they are not as strong as in a young patient. Some of the changes are irregularly shaped patches and some are slightly branched, curved and varying in thickness.
“In the eyes of a radiologist, it seems that the patient may have been suffering from the disease for some time before coming to the hospital,” says Lehtimäki.
This is because spots and streaks that appear to constrict or shrink lung tissue occur when changes in pneumonia begin to scar over time.
The images show indications that the patient’s heart is being monitored. He has apparently not been in respiratory care because the pictures do not show a breathing tube.
The patient’s lung image taken two days after the start of intensive care is even lighter: there are fewer lungs that are normally ventilated.
“It’s understandable, because even in intensive care, recovery from such a disease does not happen in a few days,” says Lehtimäki.
In computed tomography images, the patient’s lungs are clearly more airy than the young man’s lungs, as the images show more dark gray and almost black.
“Nevertheless, there is also a lot of difference in the pictures. The scars on the lungs heal slowly. ”
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“One’s own risk of serious illness is not known in advance.”
Coronary heart disease The damage caused to the lungs by most other diseases is more extensive than that caused by Lehtimäki.
Coronary lesions are often severe and occur in everyone who has received intensive care unit treatment for the disease.
“The lung damage I saw before was usually an isolated case of lung infections. During the swine flu epidemic, some similar serious cases were seen, but much less than now. ”
But what does Lehtimäki think the message of the pictures is?
“Even a young and healthy person can get a serious illness, even if it rarely happens. However, you do not know your own risk for a serious illness in advance, ”says Lehtimäki.
“Vaccination protects well against a serious disease. Since that alone does not always protect against infection, it is worth striving to live your own daily life as corona-safe as possible. ”
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