Restrictive Lung Disease in Patients With Subclinical Coronavirus Infection: Are We Bracing Ourselves for Devastating Sequelae?

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected millions of people worldwide. The manifestations of COVID-19 infection can range from being asymptomatic to developing severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Here, we present a case series of five patients who were either asymptomatic or had very mild symptoms of COVID-19 infection upon diagnosis. These patients neither required a visit to the emergency department (ED) nor did they need to be hospitalized but became symptomatic and were found to have interstitial lung disease four to eight weeks after a COVID-19 diagnosis. Thus, it is imperative that we routinely follow up patients with a subclinical COVID 19 infection besides those who were symptomatic. We may be witnessing a silent surge and new-onset interstitial lung disease (ILD) as sequelae of COVID 19 infection.