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Ventura County doctors provide X-rays showing impacts of coronavirus

Ventura County doctors provide x-rays showing impacts of virus
Ventura County doctors provide x-rays showing impacts of virus
Ventura County doctors provide x-rays showing impacts of virus
Ventura County doctors provide x-rays showing impacts of virus

VENTURA, Calif. -- For the first time, Ventura County doctors provided X-rays of patients with the coronavirus to show the impact it has on the lungs.

“This is a normal X-ray with the lungs being mostly black,” said Michael Hepfer, who is an interventional radiology at Ventura County Medical Center.

The X-ray image is from a patient who tested positive while in the intensive care unit.

“Instead of the lungs being all black, now have white circles spread around,” said Hepfer. “What typically happens with COVID is that is looks like scattered areas of pneumonia throughout the lungs.”

Healthy lungs should appear mostly dark. The black represents the body getting oxygen. But the X-rays of patients that have tested positive for the virus show images of their airways being blocked.

“Instead of air filling the lungs, this is infectious material that is thick so that air doesn’t get into part of the lungs,” said Heifer.

Doctors say serious cases could have long term effects.

“We see that patients who end up on ventilators can have really high mortality rates and even if they do get through their disease course and end up going home there are long term oxygen needs and shortness of breath that can last for months,” said Mark Lepore, who is the Chief Medical Officer at Santa Paula Hospital and VCMC.

When ventilators are used -- doctors say it's absolutely necessary.

“Ventilators have gotten a challenging reputation during this COVID epidemic, to the point that some folks have come in and said they don’t want the ventilator,” said Lepore. “We have grown into not putting folks on the ventilator if they do not absolutely need it. When they do need it, it is a life saving measure. Ventilators do save lives but they are also challenging for patients to get off of. There was a study that was done from the patients in New York City that the average patient was on a ventilator for nearly 27 days and that is a very long time to be on a ventilator with all of the steatites and high intensity amount of care that those patients require.”

Doctors say those in higher-risk groups need to be especially careful.

“There is a higher risk of developing hospitalization, but it is definitely not a death sentence,” said said Lepore. “It really seems to be hitting everyone different.”

Article Topic Follows: Coronavirus

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Senerey de los Santos

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