A study by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna has shown that for moderate COVID-19 pneumonia patients, low-dose pulmonary radiotherapy to treat patients as per the institutional protocol is helpful in halting the progression of the disease to a severe stage. Might be possible.
“A Whole Lung Low Dose Radiation Therapy (LDRT) of 0.7 Gy (grey) has improved the oxygen level of the patients,” said Dr Pritanjali Singh, Principal Investigator, Additional Professor and Head, Department of Radiation Oncology at AIIMS-Patna. Quoted by Hindustan Times.
“Serum levels of LDH (lactate dehydrogenase, which shows signs of damage to body tissue), CRP (measures the C-reactive protein level in the blood), ferritin (a blood protein that contains iron and is tested to assess this). how much iron the body stores) and D-dimer (used to detect blood clotting disorders) were also significantly lower than their baseline value in patients given low-dose radiotherapy at 14 days Done,” she continued.
The expert also pointed out that the use of pulmonary radiotherapy along with treatment as per institutional protocol can reduce the need for oxygen.
13 patients were included in this study. Of the 13 patients studied, seven were received in the radiation arm and six were not given radiotherapy. Those who were given radiation therapy showed less reliance on external oxygen as their oxygen levels improved more rapidly.
Three patients who did not receive radiotherapy became critical, while one patient, who had cardiac complications, reached a critical stage among those given radiotherapy. There was one casualty in each group, Dr Singh said.