Visualizing Regional Lung Ventilation in Patients With Postacute-COVID-19 (ViReVentPoCov)

Visualisation of Changes in Regional Ventilation in Dyspnoeic Postacute COVID-19 Patients: A Case-control Study Using Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT)

There is a lack of data of spontaneous breathing patients with post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) examined by Electrical impedance tomography (EIT). We compare 100 patients with PCS with 50 healthy probands.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: COVID-19; Post-COVID-19 Syndrome; Post-acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Electric Impedance Tomography; Ventilatory Defect

Detailed Description

When treating patients with dyspnoea, conventional diagnostic tools (computed tomography, spirometry, body plethysmography) often fail to detect pathological changes, making it difficult for the treating physician to choose an appropriate therapeutic approach. Therefore, it would be desirable to have an examination method that reveals the pulmonary changes in postacute Corona-Virus-Disease-2019 (COVID-19) syndrome (PCS) patients that remain hidden from other diagnostic procedures.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a non-invasive and radiation-free imaging technique that can show the regional ventilation of the lungs almost "in real-time" based on the changes in the electrical impedance of the thorax during inspiration and expiration. This method is based on the observation that the electrical conductivities of biological tissues vary considerably depending on their nature and functional state. Clinical questions in which the inhomogeneity of lung ventilation is to be analysed (e.g., under- or overinflation of individual lung areas, lung collapse, etc.) can be investigated particularly well with EIT since intrathoracic impedance changes correlate strongly with changes in regional lung ventilation.

Up to now, EIT has mainly been used as a monitoring method in intensive care medicine to adapt ventilation settings and other therapeutic measures to the individual needs of patients. In this field, the method has proven useful for obtaining an overview of the distribution of a respiratory volume in a transverse EIT slice, comparing different lung regions, identifying inhomogeneities and assessing regional ventilation during spontaneous breathing.

The aim of this case-control study is to use EIT data obtained during routine examinations of post-COVID patients to analyse whether patients with PCS show more distinct lung alterations than the control group. Maybe these lung alterations correlate with dyspnea most patients report subjectively.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 150

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Thuringia
    • Jena, Thuringia, Germany, 07747
      • Jena University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

100 patients with postacute COVID-19 syndrome who present themselves at the outpatient clinic of the University hospital in Jena (JUH) were examined by EIT. 50 lunghealthy volunteers were examined by EIT at JUH.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• for control group: no current lung diseases, over 18 years old
• for patients with postacute COVID-19 syndrome: over 18 years, positive SARS-CoV-2-PCR

Exclusion Criteria:

• heart pacemaker
• epilepsy
• BMI over 50

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Case-Control
• Time Perspectives: Retrospective

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
dyspnoeic patients with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome; 100 patients with/without persisting dyspnea after COVID-19 disease were examined by Electric Impedance Tomography (EIT).
control group; 50 healthy volunteers with no lung disease were voluntarily examined by Electric Impedance Tomography.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
pathogenic changes in regional lung ventilation	pathogenic changes in regional lung ventilation considered	until July 2022

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Jan-Christoph Lewejohann
• Investigators: Study Director: Jan-Christoph Lewejohann, Dr.med., Jena University Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 14, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 19, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): August 28, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 29, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 29, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): July 1, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 22, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: post-acute COVID-19 syndrome; long-COVID; EIT; Electric impedance tomographie; post-COVID-19 Syndrome (PCS)
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Post-Infectious Disorders; Pathologic Processes; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; COVID-19; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome
• Other Study ID Numbers: KIM-IV-EIT-04

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No