Serial Changes of Long COVID Symptoms and Clinical Utility of Serum Antibody Titers for Evaluation of Long COVID

Abstract

Background: Various symptoms persist even after the acute symptoms in about one third of patients with COVID-19. In February 2021, we established an outpatient clinic in a university hospital for patients with long COVID and started medical treatment for sequelae that persisted one month or more after infection. Methods: To determine the key factors that affect the onset and clinical course of sequelae, a retrospective analysis was performed at Okayama University Hospital (Japan) between February and July 2021. We focused on changes in the numbers of symptoms and the background of the patients during a three-month period from the first outpatient visit. We also examined the relationship with SARS-CoV-2 antibody titers. Results: Information was obtained from medical records for 65 patients. The symptoms of sequelae were diverse, with more than 20 types. The most frequent symptoms were general malaise, dysosmia, dysgeusia, sleeplessness, and headache. These symptoms improved in about 60% of the patients after 3 months. Patients who required hospitalization and had a poor condition in the acute phase and patients who received oxygen/dexamethasone therapy had higher antibody titers at the time of consultation. Patients with antibody titers ≥200 U/mL showed significantly fewer improvements in long COVID symptoms in 1 month, but they showed improvements at 3 months after the first visit. Conclusion: Long COVID symptoms were improved at 3 months after the initial visit in more than half of the patients. Serum antibody titers were higher in patients who experienced a severe acute phase, but the serum antibody titers did not seem to be directly related to the long-term persistence of long COVID symptoms.

Detection of Male Hypogonadism in Patients with Post COVID-19 Condition

“…To provide comprehensive treatment and care for these patients, we established a COVID-19 aftercare clinic (CAC) at Okayama University Hospital in February 2021, and we analyzed the characteristics of patients and their clinical courses. Our previous study revealed that general fatigue recollecting myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) was a major complaint in more than half of the patients [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Clinical Characteristics of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Diagnosed in Patients with Long COVID

“…The results of this study showed that patients in the ME/CFS group had a longer time between the onset of COVID-19 and the first visit (4.2 months in the ME/CFS group vs. 2.5 months in the non-ME/CFS group as shown in Table 1 ) and had higher FAS (38 vs. 28, p < 0.0001), lower quality of life scores (0.6556 vs. 0.7840, p = 0.0001) and higher SDS (50 vs. 46, p = 0.0011) at the time of the first visit as shown in Table 2 . Our earlier studies for patients visiting our CAC [ 6 , 25 ] and a study conducted at another institution [ 5 ] also showed that the most frequent complaint in patients immediately after the onset of COVID-19 was fatigue and that the percentage of patients complaining of fatigue decreased over time, suggesting that patients transitioning from long COVID to ME/CFS may have long-lasting symptoms.…”

Transitional Changes in Fatigue-Related Symptoms Due to Long COVID: A Single-Center Retrospective Observational Study in Japan

“…We have recently reported clinical characteristics of PCC patients who visited our COVID-19 aftercare outpatient clinic (CAC). We found that the major sequelae were fatigue and anxiety [ 5 , 10 ] in the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, that the severity of the acute infection greatly affects the persistent symptoms of PCC [ 11 ], and that some endocrine dysfunction may be involved in the fatigue symptoms of PCC [ 12 , 13 ]. However, the characteristics of PCC patients who were infected with the Omicron variants and the transitional changes in the variant-related symptoms have yet to be elucidated.…”