SarsCo-V2 Induced Organizing Pneumonia: Are We Failing To Initiate Effective Treatment For The Most Common Form Of COVID-19 Lung Injury? (Preprint)

Abstract

The persistent harms to COVID-19 patients caused by the under-recognition of a treatable and commonly reported radiographic lung injury pattern in COVID-19 is discussed. Pathologic findings of organizing pneumonia in post-mortem lung biopsies and autopsies are reviewed, concluding that many patients are suffering from a condition called secondary organizing pneumonia, a common complication of certain viral infections, including in the prior coronavirus pandemics. Initiation of immediate corticosteroid therapy in all patients presenting with secondary organizing pneumonia syndromes due to Sars-CoV2 may alter the clinical trajectories of many patients away from ventilators and ICU beds while dramatically reducing the morbidity and mortality of this disease.