‘COVID CHECK-UP HELPED PATIENTS DETECT OTHER DISEASES EARLY’

Many patients in India were diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer, breast cancer and tuberculosis while they underwent Covid-19 checkup, thereby allowing them to start the treatment sooner rather than later.

Dr Ravindra Mehta, Pulmonologist, Apollo Hospital, told The Sunday Guardian, “A lot of people did CT scan after they were infected with coronavirus, and we have unusually found several cases of lung cancer, breast cancer, and also tuberculosis. All these diseases were detected a little early and helped us to treat the patient at an early stage.”

Premaleela, 74, had a persistent cough and cold after she got recovered from Covid-19 in November. In order to ensure that Covid has not affected lungs and kidney, she and her family underwent CT scan in the same month. “To our surprise, we found that my mother is at an early stage of cancer. The surgery was done immediately and she is now recovering,” Dr Sanjiv CC, Premaleela’s son and a neurologist in Apollo hospital told the Sunday Guardian.

Similar cases were reported in Columbia Asia Hospital. Two patients were diagnosed and one of them had hemangioma, which is a tumour and blood clot in the lungs. Arvind (65) (name changed) was a smoker and had developed hemangioma. The early detection of the disease helped the patient to be treated at an initial stage itself.

Pradeep Rangappa, Internal Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, told The Sunday Guardian, “This is not a common thing. When you do a scan of the body, you tend to find something or other things. Some may be relevant, while others may not be. It is one of the phenomena. We do not need to worry about it. However, this scanning helps to detect diseases early, if any, which is a boon in the normal instance.” Mehta told The Sunday Guardian, “Because of this early detection of cancer, the chance of the patients surviving is 5060%, whereas if it is detected three or four months later, then the chances of survival come down to 40%.