In 2019, a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 was first identified in Wuhan, China. SARS-CoV-2 infection, denominated COVID-19, causes a predominantly respiratory illness, which varies from mild respiratory symptoms to multi-organ failure and death. In March 2020, COVID-19 was designated pandemic status and as of May 2020 there have been more than 3.7 million cases reported worldwide and 257,000 deaths attributed. In the UK, COVID-19 has caused more than 30,000 deaths to date.
Although respiratory symptoms are the commonest presentation, numerous systemic complications of COVID-19 have been identified, including those affecting the cardiovascular, neurological, gastroenterological, and renal systems. The long-term impact of these complications on survivors and the risk factors for long term sequelae is not presently known. It is likely that increased frailty and psychological sequelae will be significant, which could lead to a persistent reduction in quality of life, as observed in the previous SARS pandemic.
This cohort study aims to evaluate the respiratory, cardiac, renal and psychological outcomes of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 infection and determine the pathophysiological mechanisms that contribute to disease severity and disease burden.
