Dear Sirs,
The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, responsible of causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), primary affects the respiratory system; however, neurological symptoms (e.g., ageusia, anosmia, headache) and also other severe complication are commonly experienced at the acute phase [1, 2]. Neurological symptoms presented at the acute COVID-19 phase such as headache [3] or anosmia [4] are likely present at a post-COVID phase; however, other neurological symptoms, e.g., cognitive disorders, are “de novo” developed in up to 22% of COVID-19 survivors [5]. A recent meta-analysis reported prevalence rates of 32%, 27% and 22% for post-COVID brain fog, memory loss, and attention/concentration problems the six months after respectively [6]. However, the presence of post-COVID cognitive symptoms are questioned by others [7].
Interestingly, the recent definition of post-COVID includes cognitive dysfunction as one of the most common symptoms, after fatigue or dyspnoea [8]. The presence of post-COVID symptoms is overall associated with worse quality of life [9]. In fact, the presence of post-COVID cognitive symptoms represents a challenge for affected individuals since these symptoms affect daily life [10]. Although the presence of post-COVID cognitive symptoms is associated with nervous system changes [11], it seems that these symptoms generally improve over time [12]. However, most studies investigating these symptoms have used cross-sectional designs. Therefore, understanding the longitudinal pattern of post-COVID cognitive symptoms may have significant implications in diagnosis, triaging, and management of post-COVID individuals.
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Source: Fernández-de-Las-Peñas C, Martín-Guerrero JD, Cancela-Cilleruelo I, Rodríguez-Jiménez J, Moro-López-Menchero P, Pellicer-Valero OJ. Exploring trajectory recovery curves of post-COVID cognitive symptoms in previously hospitalized COVID-19 survivors: the LONG-COVID-EXP-CM multicenter study. J Neurol. 2022 May 10:1–5. doi: 10.1007/s00415-022-11176-x. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35538169; PMCID: PMC9090121. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9090121/ (Full text)