#Coronavirus-damaged lungs can repair themselves in three months, study says

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Medical staff X-ray a coronavirus patient’s lungs in the intensive care unit at Mount Sinai South Nassau hospital in Oceanside, New York, in April.
Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday via Getty Images

Lungs ravaged by COVID-19 can repair themselves in three months, a new study says.

Nearly half of patients who had been hospitalized for the virus showed no evidence of lung damage at 12 weeks, according to preliminary findings presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress.

The study, which has not been published yet, looked at 86 patients hospitalized in the Tyrolean region of Austria between April 29 and June 9.

Researchers from the University Clinic in Innsbruck then followed up at six and 12 weeks after discharge for evaluation.

Following their first visit, 88% of patients showed evidence of lung damage, but this number dropped to 56% by their next check-up, the study said.

Researchers said the findings indicate that the lungs can heal themselves over time — even with patients who suffered serious bouts of the virus that required hospitalization.

“The bad news is that people show lung impairment from COVID-19 weeks after discharge; the good news is that the impairment tends to ameliorate over time, which suggests the lungs have a mechanism for repairing themselves,” said Dr. Sabina Sahanic, who worked on the study at University Clinic in Innsbruck, in a statement.