For the first time in the country, anti fibrotic drugs have been used to treat patients suffering from COVID-19 related lung fibrosis and breathlessness which has helped in the recovery of four such patients in Pune, claimed an Army Institute of Cardiothoracic Sciences (AICTS).
“The researchers at AICTS have found this therapy very effective in this subset of Covid-19 patients and they were safely tolerated as well. This is a novel strategy to tackle the lung fibrosis to treat sub set of Covid-19 patients,” AICTS stated.
It said these are early results and more research is being undertaken in this field to identify the patients who are likely to benefit from the therapy.
“Scientists have achieved a breakthrough in management of severe cases by commencing anti-fibrotic therapy in four such patients who were difficult to wean from oxygen due to extensive lung fibrosis. The patients have been discharged from the hospital after the recovery. The therapy proved to be very helpful in reducing the oxygen requirement of these patients and they were discharged home on minimal oxygen after few weeks,” they statement said.
“This is the first time in the country that these anti-fibrotic drugs have been used in COVID-19 related lung fibrosis. These drugs have been used for other types of lung fibrosis secondary to autoimmune diseases (arthritis related) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,” it said.
