Group analysis on susceptibility-weighted imaging exhibiting higher susceptibility-weighted imaging values in the COVID group when compared to healthy controls. Three significant clusters were found primarily in the white matter regions of the pre-frontal cortex and in the brainstem. The clusters (a) and (b) are observed bilaterally in the cerebral white matter near the orbitofrontal gyrus. Credit: RSNA and Sapna S. Mishra
Key Points:
- A special MRI reveals brain changes in patients up to six months post COVID-19 recovery.
- The study also revealed about one in five adults will develop long-term effects from COVID-19.
- Neurological symptoms associated with long COVID include difficulty concentrating, headache, lightheadedness and depression or anxiety.
Researchers are still unraveling how COVID-19 affects people long term, but new data is shedding light on how it may alter brain functions.
A new study presented at the annual Radiological Society of North America meeting reveals noticeable brain changes in patients up to six months post COVID-19 recovery.
To study the possible cause of these symptoms, researchers used susceptibility-weighted imaging to analyze the effects that COVID-19 has on the brain.
“Group-level studies have not previously focused on COVID-19 changes in magnetic susceptibility of the brain despite several case reports signaling such abnormalities,” said study co-author Sapna Mishra, a candidate at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. “Our study highlights this new aspect of the neurological effects of COVID-19 and reports significant abnormalities in COVID survivors.”
The researchers analyzed the susceptibility-weighted imaging data of 46 COVID-recovered patients and 30 healthy controls. Imaging was done within six months of recovery. MRI results showed that patients who recovered from COVID-19 had significantly higher susceptibility values in the frontal lobe and brain stem compared with healthy controls.
The team also found a significant difference in the right ventral diencephalon region of the brain stem. This region is associated with many bodily functions, including coordinating with the endocrine system to release hormones, relaying sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex and regulating circadian rhythms.
“This study points to serious long-term complications that may be caused by the coronavirus, even months after recovery from the infection,” Mishra said.
A new study will be conducted on the same patients to determine whether these brain abnormalities persist over a longer time frame.