Telemonitoring in Long-COVID Patients—Preliminary Findings

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the high usefulness of telemedicine. To date, no uniform recommendations or diagnostic protocols for long-COVID patients have been developed. This article presents the preliminary results of the examination of patients after SARS-CoV-2 infection who were provided with medical telemonitoring devices in order to oversee their pulmonological and cardiological health. Three cases have been analyzed. Each patient underwent a 10-day registration of basic vital signs, in three 15-min sessions daily: RR (respiratory rate), ECG (electrocardiogram), HR (pulse), SPO2 (saturation), body temperature and cough. Rule methods and machine learning were employed to automatically detect events. As a result, serious disorders of all the three patients were detected: cardiological and respiratory disorders that required extended diagnostics. Furthermore, average values of the selected parameters (RR, HR, SPO2) were calculated for every patient, including an indication of how often they exceeded the alarm thresholds. In conclusion, monitoring parameters in patients using telemedicine, especially in a time of limited access to the healthcare system, is a valuable clinical instrument. It enables medical professionals to recognize conditions which may endanger a patient’s health or life. Telemedicine provides a reliable assessment of a patient’s health status made over a distance, which can alleviate a patient’s stress caused by long-COVID syndrome. Telemedicine allows identification of disorders and performing further diagnosis, which is possible owing to the implementation of advanced analysis. Telemedicine, however, requires flexibility and the engagement of a multidisciplinary team, who will respond to patients’ problems on an ongoing basis.

Telemedicine in Primary Practice in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic—Review

“…Similar systems used during the COVID-19 pandemic for remote registration of vital signs have been presented in the literature by Balasubramanian V., Ding X, Romaszko et al [ 26 , 48 , 49 ].…”

Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Comprehensive Assessment: From Clinical Diagnosis to Imaging and Biochemical-Guided Diagnosis and Management

“…In view of the growing number of PC19S cases globally, early identification of affected individuals to provide appropriate and efficient treatment is required [ 192 ]. The use of telemedicine for rehabilitation is suitable for long-term PC19S monitoring [ 193 ]. It provides a reliable and flexible assessment of patient’s health status through remote monitoring, and identification of disorders and complications through long-term monitoring of health parameters.…”

Transformation of chronic disease management: Before and after the COVID-19 outbreak

“…Additionally, the use of telehealth could effectively assess patients with Long-COVID, providing a convenient and reliable means of remote health assessment in the absence of established guidelines or diagnostic procedures. Advanced analysis implemented in telehealth could detect disorders and facilitate further diagnostic evaluation, thereby also reducing the stress associated with Long-COVID ( 61 ).…”