Analysis of the Pathophysiology and Pathology of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Including Chronic Morbidity

NAPKON-HAP is the deep phenotyping platform of the National Pandemic Cohort Network (NAPKON) in Germany. NAPKON is a data and biospecimen collection of patients with COVID-19 and is part of the University Medicine Network (NUM) in Germany. The primary objective of the study is to provide a comprehensive collection of data and biosamples for researchers from national consortia and for participation in international research collaborations for studying COVID-19 and future pandemics. Data is collected from patients with COVID-19 three times per week during their hospitalization and at follow-up visits after hospital discharge 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months after symptom onset. Data include epidemiological and demographic parameters, medical history and potential risk factors, documentation of routine medical procedures, and clinical course, including different patterns of organ involvement, quality of care, morbidity, and quality of life. Moreover, extensive serial high-quality bio sampling consisting of various sample types is performed to allow deep molecular, immunological, and virological phenotyping. Patients not requiring Intensive Care Unit (ICU)/ Intermediate Care (IMC) treatment will receive 7 and patients requiring ICU/IMC treatment will receive 16 full-phenotyping visits including sampling for biobanking. During hospitalisation the planned blood sampling rate in total is 35 ml at each visit. The total amounts and/or sampling dates may differ according to the ethics committee's regulations for different study centers. At follow-up visits, the clinical assessment includes an update of the medical history and recent medical events from which additional clinical data is collected (i.e. outpatient CT-scans, echocardiography, external laboratory data). Clinical symptoms are recorded and a physical examination will be performed. Vital signs are recorded and routine blood testing and biosampling is continued. Quality of life is measured with patient-reported outcome questionnaires. Follow-up visits at months 3 and 12 are "deep phenotyping" visits with a comprehensive and detailed set of examinations. In the following visits at months 24 and 36, only examinations with pathologic results from the last deep phenotyping visit at month 12 will be performed. A shorter follow-up visit to record quality of life, recent medical events and with a reduced number of examinations focusing on cardiorespiratory performance will take place at month 6. In case of relevant medical events, new medical information or changes in the participant´s health status, an unscheduled visit can take place anytime within the entire study period. Data collection during follow up includes standardized quality of life assessment including PROMIS® (Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System). The pulmonary characterization will include body plethysmography, diffusion capacity, respiratory muscles strength measurement, spiroergometry, capillary blood gas analysis and lung imaging studies (low-dose Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the lung). Cardiological phenotyping includes echocardiography, electrocardiogram (ECG), 24h-ECG, 24h-blood pressure monitoring, stress cardiac MRI and pulse wave analysis. Neurocognitive testing includes brain MRI, electroencephalogram (EEG), somatosensory testing, refractometry (Visit 3 and 12 months), physical activity test, neurocognitive tests, somatosensory phenotyping, taste- and smell-test. Endocrinological phenotyping will incorporate Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGE) reader, continuous glucose monitoring for 14 days, Air Displacement Plethysmography (ADP) or bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).