Background
myalgia, critically ill, diarrhea, fever, respiratory failure, cough, anosmia, hypoxemia, headache
RESPIRATORY DISEASE, CRITICALLY ILL, RESPIRATORY FAILURE, CARDIOPULMONARY, CORONAVIRUS, OPACITIES, SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME
In December 2019, Wuhan city identified a new type of coronavirus, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), that rapidly spread all over the world and caused an immense global health crisis. Most patients presented mild to moderate respiratory disease, experiencing cough, fever, headache, myalgia, diarrhea and anosmia. However, around 3–20% of people with SARS-CoV-2 required hospitalization and a considerable subset needed intensive care because of respiratory failure with severe hypoxemia and bilateral radiographic opacities [Studies found that most SARS-CoV-2 survivors, even those who were critically ill during hospital stay, have normal pulmonary function tests within 12 months after symptom onset [Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a non-invasive clinical tool that provides a global assessment of the respiratory, circulatory and metabolic responses to maximal exercise, which are not adequately reflected through the measurement of individual organ system function at rest [The aim of our study was to evaluate cardiopulmonary exercise capacities in a prospective cohort of patients that required critical care management during the first wave of COVID-19, 12 months after symptom onset.