Late Complications of COVID-19; a Systematic Review of Current Evidence

Introduction: COVID-19 is a new rapidly spreading epidemic. The symptoms of this disease could be diverse as the virus can affect any organ in the body of an infected person. This study aimed to investigate the available evidence for long-term complications of COVID-19. Methods: This study was a systematic review of current evidence conducted in November 2020 to investigate probable late and long-term complications of COVID-19. We performed a systematic search, using the keywords, in online databases including PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Up to Date, and Web of Science, to find papers published from December 2019 to October 2020. Peer-reviewed original papers published in English, which met the eligibility criteria were included in the final report. Addressing non-human studies, unavailability of the full-text document, and duplicated results in databases, were characteristics that led to exclusion of the papers from review. Results: The full-texts of 65 articles have been reviewed. We identified 10 potential late complications of COVID-19. A review of studies showed that lung injuries (n=31), venous/arterial thrombosis (n=28), heart injuries (n=26), cardiac/brain stroke (n=23), and neurological injuries (n=20) are the most frequent late complications of COVID-19. Conclusion: Since we are still at the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is too soon to predict what long-term complications are likely to appear in the survivors of the disease in years after recovery. Furthermore, the complexity of COVID-19 behaviors and targets in the human body creates uncertainty in anticipating long-term complications.