KEY POINTS

  • Man, 59, showed lung damage due to COVID-19
  • Patient was asymptomatic and healthy days prior
  • Patient now in critical condition in the ICU

A doctor found lung damage in a COVID-19 patient who was asymptomatic just days earlier.

Dr. Keith Mortman, chief of thoracic surgery at George Washington University Hospital created a 360-degree image of the lungs of a male coronavirus patient, 59, who was generally healthy except for a history of high blood pressure, CNN reported.

"This is a guy who’s minding his own business and gets it," Mortman told CNN. "If we were to repeat the [360-degree virtual reality images] now, that is one week later, there is a chance that the infection and inflammatory process could be worse."

According to the New York Post, the patient remains in critical condition in the ICU and required a ventilator on the highest setting for him to breathe and Mortman said that it is still not sure if the patient will fully recover since the damage has been irreversible for most patients.

Lungs
A man examines an exhibit of the pulmonary veins and bronchi during 'Bodies.....The Exhibition' in London, April 12, 2006. Getty Images/Scott Barbour