Two recently published studies have provided new insights into the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the nervous system. In the first study, Catarina Rua and colleagues identified microstructural changes in the brainstem in post-hospitalized survivors of COVID-19. The second study, led by Igor Koralnik, showed that young and middle-aged adults with long COVID have a disproportionate burden of neurological manifestations.
The researchers compared 7-T QSM data from 30 patients who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 and 51 age-matched control individuals with no history of the disease. In the COVID-19 group, who were scanned 93–548 days after hospital admission, the QSM signal was increased in the medulla oblongata, pons and midbrain regions of the brainstem. The researchers attributed this increased signal to a neuroinflammatory response, possibly caused by accumulation of iron in the tissue.
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