Silent Hypoxia with COVID-19

Happy Hypoxia or Silent Hypoxia has turned out to be one of the most serious symptoms common among a large section of Covid patients, leaving doctors confused and alarmed.

Hypoxia

How is Silent or Happy Hypoxia different from Hypoxia?

Hypoxia is a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply at the tissue level. This can result from inadequate oxygen delivery to the tissues either due to low blood supply or low oxygen content in the blood (hypoxemia).

Silent Or Happy Hypoxia

While an increased respiratory rate (tachypnoea) is seen in normal hypoxic patients. It is NOT typically found in patients with silent hypoxia. Happy hypoxia does not coincide with shortness of breath.

With Silent hypoxia, there is a silent drop in oxygen below critical level without any pressing symptoms or breathing distress. In happy hypoxia, a person's oxygen levels are so low that they should be fainting or experiencing organ damage, but instead, they are seemingly well, until eventually, they collapse.

A near-normal blood oxygen saturation level is more than 90%, with 94-100% considered normal. If a patient registers a number lower than this, the brain might not get the oxygen it needs, leading to confusion and lethargy. If the level drops as far as the low 80s, there's a real danger of damage to vital organs and even death.

Unfortunately, hypoxia, silent hypoxia, and the need for supplementary oxygen are all predictors of worse outcomes in COVID-19 patients.

Silent hypoxia isn't a new phenomenon. It's been seen in high altitude sickness. Any condition that causes damage to the lungs can cause it, although it's more common in chronic conditions like COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and Pulmonary Fibrosis, where the lungs are chronically damaged.

Why does Silent Hypoxia occur in Covid Patients?

A combination of all three factors are likely to be responsible for the severe cases of Silent Hypoxia in some COVID-19 patients.

Ways to detect Silent or Happy Hypoxia in Covid Patients

Symptoms to Watch for Silent Hypoxia

Diagnosis of silent hypoxia for COVID-19 Patients

Early detection of silent hypoxia in COVID-19 patients is crucial to minimize the long-term effect as well as mortality rate. Besides, early detection may facilitate deciding on when to start the oxygen treatment.

Treatment

If doctors recognize silent hypoxia early enough, it can be treated with oxygen therapy (through nasal tubes, a face mask, or a tube placed in the windpipe).

Positioning patients in the upright or semirecumbent position (where the head and torso are at an angle of 45 degrees), or in the prone position (lying on their belly) might help. Also, close monitoring via blood tests is also important.