Research: No evidence of brain damage after severe coronavirus infection

Researchers see no evidence of brain damage in people hospitalized with severe coronavirus infection, Maastricht University reported. The study was prompted by the neurological problems doctors noticed in patients in intensive care during the first wave of the coronavirus.

However, people who experienced this "show no signs of brain damage from the disease after the fact," the university explained. The study looked at two groups of coronavirus patients: 104 people who were in the usual care unit and 101 people who had been admitted to the intensive care unit. Nine months after discharge from the hospital, the researchers used scans and tests to examine possible brain damage and its consequences, such as memory problems. They also asked about symptoms such as fatigue.

"We expected that people in the intensive care group, who were, after all, the most severely ill, would also have the greatest brain damage and more complaints," explained Caroline van Heugten, professor of clinical neuropsychology in Maastricht. But that wasn't the case. "The MRI scans of the brain were largely similar, with the exception that we saw more microbleeds in the MRI scans of the intensive care patients. Patients with such microbleeds did not have more disorders or symptoms.”

There were also no differences in thinking functions or psychological well-being between the two groups. However, more than half of the patients studied suffered from complaints such as fatigue, forgetfulness and difficulty concentrating. Such complaints are also known as Long COVID or Post-COVID Conditions (PCC). They also occur in people who have not been hospitalized after an infection with the coronavirus, Van Heugten said. The cause of such complaints is not yet clear.