Exertional intolerance and dyspnea with preserved lung function: an emerging long COVID phenotype?

• Letter to the Editor
• Open Access
• 
  

• Grace Y. Lam, 
• A. Dean Befus, 
• Ronald W. Damant, 
• Giovanni Ferrara, 
• Desi P. Fuhr, 
• Michael K. Stickland, 
• Rhea A. Varughese, 
• Eric Y. Wong & 
• Maeve P. Smith 

Respiratory Research volume 22, Article number: 222 (2021) 

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant acute morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is now a growing recognition of the longer-term sequelae of this infection, termed “long COVID”. However, little is known about this condition. Here, we describe a distinct phenotype seen in a subset of patients with long COVID who have reduced exercise tolerance as measured by the 6 min walk test. They are associated with significant exertional dyspnea, reduced health-related quality of life and poor functional status. However, surprisingly, they do not appear to have any major pulmonary function abnormalities or increased burden of neurologic, musculoskeletal or fatigue symptoms.

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