Radiological and spirometric changes in relation to drugs used in post COVID pulmonary fibrosis in a cohort of COVID-19 survivors

Background It has been proposed that prolonged use of anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic drugs diminish the probability of development of lung fibrosis. Prolonged low-dose corticosteroid may prevent remodeling of the lung in survivors. Pirfenidone and colchicine may exhibit anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory properties as well. Methods This retrospective observational study was conducted at post COVID-19 clinic, Mansoura University Hospitals, during the period between October 2020 and March 2022. This study included 104 patients who had COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed either by RT-PCR or radiologically by CT scan and divided into 3 groups; group A (corticosteroids only) included 33 (31.7%) patients, group B (corticosteroids and colchicine) included 56 (53.8%) patients, and group C (corticosteroids, colchicine, and pirfenidone) included 15 (14.4%) patients. All patients were assessed during follow-up visits in post COVID-19 clinic 1 and 3 months after discharge by evaluation of resting SpO2, spirometry, and radiological assessment. Patients’ data during hospitalization was collected from hospital electronic systems. Results There was non-statistically significant improvement in FEV1 in group A while there was statistically significant improvement in FEV1 in groups B and C ( P value = 0.002 and 0.041, respectively) 1 month and 3 months after discharge. Group B exhibited more statistically significant improvement in FVC as well compared to group C ( P value = 0.003 and 0.025, respectively) while group A showed non-statistically significant improvement in FVC. There was a statistically significant decrease in CT severity score in all the groups during follow-up with P value < 0.001 in groups A and B and to less extent less statistically significant decrease in group C comparing the 3 groups to each other. Conclusion The use of colchicine added to corticosteroids after acute phase of COVID-19 pneumonia resulted in statistically significant improvement regarding functional and radiological changes during follow-up when compared to corticosteroids alone. The addition of pirfenidone (which is a relatively expensive drug) to corticosteroids and colchicine did not add more statistically significant improvement in functional or radiological changes.