The new Northwestern University study, published Feb. 17 in the journal Skeletal Radiology, describes how different types of imaging, including ultrasounds, X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans, can confirm how the body is attacking itself.
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“What we have found is that the virus triggers an autoimmune response in some patients with COVID-19. In other words, the virus entices the body to attack itself,” says Dr. Swati Deshmukh, author and assistant professor at Northwestern University. Feinberg School of Medicine.
When the body attacks itself, radiological images, some with contrast agent, can show inflamed nerves or dead tissue, the study found.
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It also shows how the impact of COVID-19 can last for months, which is what 31-year-old Tajma Hodzik from Albany Park is currently experiencing. She fought off COVID-19 in June 2020, but its impact was long-lasting, causing an autoimmune disease called COVID-induced psoriatic arthritis.
“My whole body and all the joints in my body were inflamed. I couldn’t get out of bed. I couldn’t do anything on my own. I couldn’t shower, eat, walk,” recalls Hodzik. The pain sent her to the hospital for the second time in 2020.
Hodzik explains psoriatic arthritis like this: “It’s an autoimmune disease. It’s made up of two parts. The psoriasis patch is made up of patches and rashes all over my body. The arthritis is what we see, arthritis as a chronic condition.”
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The radiological images require the eye of an expert to understand. Dr. Deshmukh studied several images of other COVID-19 patients, including inflamed nerves, dead and damaged tissue, blood clots, and damaged joints.
Overall, these images can help doctors make medical decisions for their patients, she said.
“Based on what imaging shows, we can then recommend the best next steps for diagnosis, treatment and management during this long road of recovery,” said Dr. Deshmukh. “For that reason, radiologists are sometimes referred to as the doctor’s doctor.”
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While imaging helps explain the problem, Hodzic is still concerned about the future and what it means for her recovery, especially since she’s now on medications to control her psoriatic arthritis.
“We don’t know. We don’t know if this is something that will last as long as I live, next year, two years, five years,” she said. Or if I can stop myself on medication. At the moment it is quite a unknown.
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