LAUSR

To assess long‐term clinical, radiological, and functional follow‐up of patients hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) pneumonia of different grades of severity. Two‐hundred‐thirty and three patients (Group 1, patients needed invasive mechanical ventilation, n = 69; Group 2, patients needed noninvasive mechanical ventilation, n = 78; Group 3, patients needed <12 L/min of O2 supply, n = 96) with a postdischarge follow‐up >12 months were studied. Follow‐up visits, chest computed tomography (CT) scan and pulmonary function tests (diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide [DLCO], 6‐min walking tests [6MWT], spirometry) were done at 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Male sex was more frequent in Group 1 (n = 50, 72.5%) compared with Group 2 (n = 49, 62.5%) and Group 3 (n = 44, 51.2%), p = 0.024. Group 2 patients had more comorbidities and higher BMI compared with others. At Month 12, the main reported symptoms were fatigue (mainly in Group 3) and dyspnea; most symptoms resolved during follow‐up, except brain fog, memory loss, and anosmia/dysgeusia that, when present at Month 3, usually persisted at Month 12. DLCO and 6MWT normalized at Month 12 in almost all patients. Only nine patients (13%) in Group 1 had a normal chest CT at Month 12, while 20 (29%) had >3 abnormalities, compared with 14 (17.9%) in Group 2 and 11 (11.4%) in Group 3, respectively (p = 0.04). Different clinical symptoms persist up to 12 months in patients hospitalized for SARS‐CoV‐2 pneumonia. Despite the persistence of abnormalities at chest CT scan after 12 months, an impairment of pulmonary function persists only in a minority of subjects. A longer follow‐up is needed to assess the evolution of radiological abnormalities in COVID‐19 population.