Little by little, we are discovering the magnitude that a SARS-CoV-2 infection can have in the long term. Authors have demonstrated persistent and significant sequelae on the cognitive abilities of severely affected patients six months after the acute phase of the infection.
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SARS-CoV-2 is not a virus confined to the upper airways as originally thought. He touches of many organs, including the brain. From already existing data in the literature suggest a link between severe form of Covid-19 disease and persistent cognitive disorders. Authors from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London wanted to know more about the subject: are persistent cognitive disorders linked to certain clinical aspects during acute phase disease? Or are they correlated to the mental state of the patient at the time of contamination by SARS-CoV-2? Are they frequent? Their work has been published in the journal eClinicalMedicine of the group The Lancet, April 28, 2022.
Study design
Included in this study were 46 patients who received intensive care for their Covid-19 disease between 10 March 2020 and July 31, 2020. Among them, 16 subjects required a mechanical ventilation. Thanks to standardized scales, their cognitive abilities (memory, attention, reasoning) could be assessed on average six months after the acute phase of the disease. An evaluation of thestate of stress and anxiety patients was also performed. A control group of 460 people was formed. The subjects were matched on age. Data on the severity of the Covid-19 disease, the mental state of the patient at the time of diagnostic and the duration of hospitalization were also collected.
10 IQ points less
People who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 were slower and more inaccurate in answering questions compared to people who were not infected with the virus. These cognitive disorders were correlated with the severity of the disease during the acute phase, but not with the presence of a chronic mental illness at the time of diagnosis. The aspects most affected by the disease were the speed processing skills and higher cognitive abilities as well as difficulties in “finding one’s words”. The authors specify that the deficit observed six months after a severe form was equivalent to the cognitive loss typically seen in someone between their 50s and 70s, or 20 years of aging. This corresponds to a loss of 10 IQ points!
This research needs to be deepened in order to know if this deficit is maintained over time or if it is only a phase of convalescence. Nevertheless, the potential occurrence of these disorders needs to be known to health professionals for better management.
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