1. Cognitive deficit in post-acute COVID-19: an opportunity for EEG evaluation?
- Author
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Furlanis, Giovanni, Buoite Stella, Alex, Biaduzzini, Francesco, Bellavita, Giulia, Frezza, Nicolò Arjuna, Olivo, Sasha, Menichelli, Alina, Lunardelli, Alberta, Ajčević, Miloš, and Manganotti, Paolo
- Subjects
POST-acute COVID-19 syndrome ,EPILEPSY ,ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY ,TRANSCRANIAL magnetic stimulation ,MONTREAL Cognitive Assessment ,COVID-19 - Abstract
Background and purpose: Among the most common post-COVID symptoms, many patients experienced subjective cognitive deficit, commonly named "brain fog," that might be present also in those individuals without severe acute COVID-19 respiratory involvement. Some studies have investigated some of the mechanisms that might be associated with the brain fog with objective techniques including transcranial magnetic stimulation and neuroimaging. Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of electroencephalographic (EEG) alterations in people with post-COVID self-reported cognitive deficit. Results: Out of the 90 patients attending the post-COVID neurology ambulatory service, twenty patients presenting brain fog at least 4 weeks after acute non-severe COVID-19 infection, and without previous history of epilepsy, were investigated with 19-channel EEG, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). EEG was found altered in 65% of the sample, among which 69% presented a slowing activity and 31% were characterized by epileptic discharges principally in the frontal areas. None of the patients showed DWI MRI lesions. Conclusions: These findings highlight the usefulness of EEG analysis to objectively describe possible neurophysiological abnormalities in post-COVID patients presenting subjective cognitive deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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