Neurological clinical presentation of long covid syndrome

Abstract

Patients who have suffered from COVID-19 after a certain time report a wide range of new or persistent symptoms (symptoms that persist for at least 12 weeks) called “long COVID-19 syndrome”.Aim: Narrative review regarding post-Covid-19 symptomatology to establish the clinical variability. Material and Methods: To achieve the purpose of the study, a systematic analysis of literature data on the given topic was performed. Thus, scientific sources were studied in the scientific citation databases PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, eLibrary. Results and discussions: According to the studies analyzed, most patients most often manifest fatigue, cognitive disorders and sleep disorders, less often present other neurological disorders (headache, anxiety, depression, etc.). Patients with long COVID-19 syndrome report sleep disorders such as insomnia or drowsiness. These people have greater difficulty falling asleep at the desired time and also waking up at the desired time. In some patients, sleep disorders were present even after 12 months after Covid-19, with a negative impact on the quality of life of patients. Headache is one of the earliest and most common symptoms of long COVID-19 syndrome. The presence of headache in the acute phase of Covid-19 infection was considered a positive prognosis, being associated with lower severity and mortality. Headache may persist to a significant extent in the long term. Depression and anxiety may be more a result of the severity of the illness and psychological trauma following the pandemic than a result of the viral infection. Anxiety and depression have significant long-term consequences. Conclusions: Long COVID syndrome is a complex condition with prolonged heterogeneous symptoms. Our study suggests the presence of fatigue, cognitive impairment, sleep disorders, headache, anxiety, and depression in the neurological symptomatology of long Covid syndrome. The persistence of long-term symptomatology highlights the importance of a holistic and continuous approach to better understand the impact of this disease on health and establish appropriate management.