objective
Most individuals infected with SARS – CoV – 2 never require hospitalization. However, some develop prolonged symptoms. We tried to characterize the spectrum of neurological manifestations in Covid “long haulers” – 19 not hospitalized.
Methods
This is a prospective study of the first 100 consecutive patients (50 SARS – CoV – 2 laboratories – positive and 50 laboratory individuals – negative) who presented at our clinic Neuro – Covid – 19 between May and November 2020. Due to the limitations of the tests from an early pandemic, patients were included if they met the symptoms of the Covid-19 Infectious Diseases Society of America, were never hospitalized for pneumonia or hypoxemia, and had neurological symptoms lasting more than 6 weeks. We recorded the frequency of neurological symptoms and analyzed the quality of life measures reported by the patient and standardized cognitive assessments.
Results of
The mean age was 43.2 ± 11.3 years, 70% were female and 48% were evaluated on televisions. The most frequent comorbidities were depression / anxiety (42%) and autoimmune diseases (16%). The main neurological manifestations were: “cerebral fog” (81%), headache (68%), numbness / tingling (60%), dysgeusia (59%), anosmia (55%), myalgia (55%), with only anosmia being more frequent in SARS – CoV – 2+ than SARS – CoV – 2– patients (37/50 [74%] vs (18/50 [36%]; p <0.001). In addition, 85% also experienced fatigue. There was no correlation between the time since the onset of the disease and the subjective impression of recovery. Both groups exhibited impaired quality of life in the cognitive and fatigue domains. SARS-CoV-2+ patients performed worse on cognitive attention tasks and working memory compared to a US population with demographic compatibility (T-score 41.5 [37, 48.25] and 43 [37.5, 48.75], respectively; both p <0.01).
Interpretation
Covid-19 long haulers out of hospital experience a prominent and persistent “brain fog” and fatigue that affect their cognition and quality of life.