Two hundred fifteen patients, who had developed COVID-19, were examined 4 months after the diagnosis by means of neurological exam and extensive cognitive evaluation, investigating general cognition, memory, verbal fluency, visuospatial abilities and executive functions. Fifty-two of them were treated in intensive care unit (ICU patients), whereas 163 were not hospitalized (non-ICU patients). Neurological deficits were found in 2/163 (1.2%) of non-ICU and in 7/52 (13.5%) of the ICU cases, all involving the peripheral nervous system. ICU patients performed significantly worse in all the neuropsychological tests and showed a worse age- and education-corrected cognitive impairment: Cognitive Impairment Index (CII) was higher in ICU than in non-ICU patients (median ICU 3 vs 2, p = .001). CII significantly correlated with age in both groups, was unrelated to length of follow- up, diabetes and hypertension and – only for ICU patients- to PaO2/FiO2 at ICU admission. The authors concluded that the obtained results support the greater susceptibility of COVID-19 patients, treated in ICU, to develop neurological deficits and cognitive impairment at a four-month follow up, as compared to cases with mild/moderate symptoms.
Mattioli F, Piva S, Stampatori C, Righetti F, Mega I, Peli E, Sala E, Tomasi C, Indelicato AM, Latronico N, De Palma G. Neurologic and cognitive sequelae after SARS-CoV2 infection: Different impairment for ICU patients. J Neurol Sci. 2021 Nov 26;432:120061.
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Cross-sectional case-control studies