For moderate Covid-19 pneumonia patients, a low dose pulmonary radiotherapy to the treatment of patients as per institutional protocol may turn helpful in stopping the progression of the disease to severe stage, a Patna’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) study revealed. “A whole lung low dose radiation therapy (LDRT) of 0.7 Gy (gray) improved the oxygenation level of patients at day three," said Dr Pritanjali Singh, the principal investigator, additional professor and head of radiation oncology department at AIIMS-Patna as quoted by Hindustan Times. “The serum levels of LDH (lactate dehydrogenase, which looks of signs of damage to body tissues), CRP (measures the C-reactive protein level in blood), Ferritin (a blood protein that contains iron and its test helps to assess how much iron the body stores) and D-dimer (used to find out blood clotting disorder) also significantly reduced in 14 days in patients given the low dose radiotherapy in comparison to their baseline value," she further said.
The expert also pointed out, that using pulmonary radiotherapy along with treatment as per institutional protocol can reduce the requirement for oxygen.
As many as 13 patients were part of this study. Of the 13 patients studied, seven were taken up in the radiation arm and six not given radiotherapy.
Those who were given radiation therapy showed reduced dependence on external oxygen as their oxygenation level improved faster.