Morphometric vertebral fractures at hospitalization associate with Long COVID occurrence.

PURPOSE: Long COVID is a multisystemic syndrome leading to significant morbidity. To date, a comprehensive characterization of underlying risk factors is still being defined. Osteoporosis and vertebral fractures (VFs) were associated with worse acute COVID-19 and impaired respiratory recovery after hospitalization. Therefore, we aimed to assess the potential relationship between VFs and the occurrence of the Long COVID syndrome.

METHODS

Patients hospitalized for acute COVID-19 and subsequently seen in our outpatient follow-up clinic 6-months after discharge were evaluated. We retrospectively included patients with available lateral chest X-rays performed at admission suitable for VFs assessments. We excluded patients with active neoplasia, and those managed at home or those hospitalized in ICU. Long COVID was diagnosed with a multidisciplinary evaluation.

RESULTS

One-hundred sixty-two patients were included in the study. At least one VF was found in 42 patients at presentation (25.9%). Patients with VFs were significantly older and predominantly males. Long COVID was diagnosed in 25 patients (15.4%). No differences were found between patients with and without Long COVID regarding demographics and comorbidities; however, those with Long COVID were characterized by a higher prevalence of VFs at time of hospitalization for acute COVID-19 (48% vs. 22%, p = 0.01). After matching patients with and without VFs in a 1:1 ratio for demographics, comorbidities, and COVID-19 severity, a total of 84 patients were analysed and those presenting VFs were characterized by a significant higher prevalence of Long COVID (28.6% vs. 9.5%, p = 0.04) and VFs resulted as the only significant independent risk factor for Long COVID occurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

We observed that prevalent VFs detected at hospital admission were distinctive clinical features of patients presenting with Long COVID 6-months after discharge, independently from acute disease severity and other confounding factors. This highlights a potential detrimental association between skeletal fragility and the development of Long COVID.