Abstract:This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
“…More severe mood alterations were found in ME/CFS + than ME/CFS- patients, in line with a recent prospective study on COVID-19 survivors (Rass et al 2021 ). Fig.…”
SARS-CoV-2 survivors may report persistent symptoms that resemble myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We explored (a) ME/CFS-like symptom prevalence and (b) whether axonal, inflammatory, and/or lung changes may contribute to ME/CFS-like symptoms in SARS-CoV-2 survivors through clinical, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological, lung function assessment, and serum neurofilament light chain, an axonal damage biomarker. ME/CFS-like features were found in 27% of our sample. ME/CFS-like group showed worse sleep quality, fatigue, pain, depressive symptoms, subjective cognitive complaints, Borg baseline dyspnea of the 6-min walking test vs. those without ME/CFS-like symptoms. These preliminary findings raise concern on a possible future ME/CFS-like pandemic in SARS-CoV-2 survivors.
“…More severe mood alterations were found in ME/CFS + than ME/CFS- patients, in line with a recent prospective study on COVID-19 survivors (Rass et al 2021 ). Fig.…”
SARS-CoV-2 survivors may report persistent symptoms that resemble myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). We explored (a) ME/CFS-like symptom prevalence and (b) whether axonal, inflammatory, and/or lung changes may contribute to ME/CFS-like symptoms in SARS-CoV-2 survivors through clinical, neuropsychiatric, neuropsychological, lung function assessment, and serum neurofilament light chain, an axonal damage biomarker. ME/CFS-like features were found in 27% of our sample. ME/CFS-like group showed worse sleep quality, fatigue, pain, depressive symptoms, subjective cognitive complaints, Borg baseline dyspnea of the 6-min walking test vs. those without ME/CFS-like symptoms. These preliminary findings raise concern on a possible future ME/CFS-like pandemic in SARS-CoV-2 survivors.
“…Others may suffer from sleep difficulties and anxiety or depression in the long term [ 95 ]. This finding is consistent with a follow-up study showing that there were new-onset neurologic symptoms even 3 months after infection, including hyposmia/anosmia, myopathy, mild encephalopathy, parkinsonism, GBS, and ischemic stroke [ 96 ].…”
Section: Long Covid? a Glimpse Into The Neuronal Systemsupporting
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative pathogen of the recent pandemic of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). As the infection spreads, there is increasing evidence of neurological and psychiatric involvement in COVID-19. Headache, impaired consciousness, and olfactory and gustatory dysfunctions are common neurological manifestations described in the literature. Studies demonstrating more specific and more severe neurological involvement such as cerebrovascular insults, encephalitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome are also emerging. Respiratory failure, a significant condition that leads to mortality in COVID-19, is hypothesized to be partly due to brainstem impairment. Notably, some of these neurological complications seem to persist long after infection. This review aims to provide an update on what is currently known about neurological involvement in patients with COVID-19 due to SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this review, we demonstrate invasion routes of SARS-CoV-2, provide evidence to support the neurotropism hypothesis of the virus, and investigate the pathological mechanisms that underlie neurological complications associated with SARS-CoV-2.
“…The evolution of neuropsychological alterations after COVID-19 infection over time is still unclear. The persistence of neuropsychological disorders has been described 3 months after COVID-19 infection: impairment of quality of life, anxiety and depressed mood, sleep disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and fatigue were found in up to 23% of patients in a 3 months follow-up of a cohort of patients who recovered from COVID-19 infection [ 24 ]. It has been suggested also that these neuropsychological manifestations may cause a substantial socioeconomic burden, as well [ 9 ].…”
Intensive Care Unit delirium, insomnia, anxiety, and frontal/dysexecutive disorders have been described following COVID-19 infection. The aim of this case study was to re-evaluate the neuropsychological pattern in a series of patients with COVID-19 outcomes. We retrospectively evaluated 294 patients admitted to the Istituti Clinici Scientifici Maugeri of Lumezzane (Brescia) (May–September 2020). Neuropsychological assessment was available for 12 patients. We extracted clinical, functional data (FIM and Barthel Index score) and neuropsychological tests (MMSE, Trail making a-b, verbal fluency test, digit span, prose memory test, Frontal Assessment Battery, clock drawing test, Rey–Osterrieth complex figure, Tower of London test). The results were analyzed by Spearman (rho) correlation. Six patients presented dysexecutive alterations even in the presence of normal overall cognitive functioning. Forward digit span score was directly correlated to FIM value at admission (p = 0.015) and inversely correlated to delta FIM (p = 0.030) and delta Barthel Index (p = 0.025). In our experience, subclinical cognitive alterations were present in 4% of patients recovering from COVID-19 pneumonia. The possible correlation between verbal memory and frontal functions, and the degree of functional impairment at admission and its subsequent improvement, underscores the importance of an adequate cognitive evaluation and rehabilitation.
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