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. 2021 Dec;49(6):1163-1186.
doi: 10.1007/s15010-021-01666-x. Epub 2021 Jul 28.

Long COVID, a comprehensive systematic scoping review

Hossein Akbarialiabad #  1 , Mohammad Hossein Taghrir #  1 , Ashkan Abdollahi  2 , Nasrollah Ghahramani  3 , Manasi Kumar  4   5 , Shahram Paydar  6 , Babak Razani  7   8   9 , John Mwangi  10 , Ali A Asadi-Pooya  11   12 , Leila Malekmakan  2 , Bahar Bastani  13
Affiliations

Long COVID, a comprehensive systematic scoping review

Hossein Akbarialiabad et al. Infection. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: To find out what is known from literature about Long COVID until January 30, 2021.

Methods: We undertook a four-step search with no language restriction. A preliminary search was made to identify the keywords. A search strategy of all electronic databases resulted in 66 eligible studies. A forward and backward search of the references and citations resulted in additional 54 publications. Non-English language articles were translated using Google Translate. We conducted our scoping review based on the PRISMA-ScR Checklist.

Results: Of 120 papers, we found only one randomized clinical trial. Of the 67 original studies, 22 were cohort, and 28 were cross-sectional studies. Of the total 120 publications, 49.1% focused on signs and symptoms, 23.3% on management, and 10.8% on pathophysiology. Ten publications focused on imaging studies. The results are also presented extensively in a narrative synthesis in separated sections (nomenclature, diagnosis, pathophysiology, risk factors, signs/symptoms, management).

Conclusions: The controversies in its definition have impaired proper recognition and management. The predominant symptoms were: fatigue, breathlessness, arthralgia, sleep difficulties, and chest pain. Recent reports also point to the risk of long-term sequela with cutaneous, respiratory, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, mental health, neurologic, and renal involvement in those who survive the acute phase of the illness.

Keywords: COVID-19; Corona virus; Long COVID-19; Long haulers COVID; Novel Corona Virus 2019; PASC post-acute sequela SARS-COV-2; Post COVID-19 Syndrome; Post-acute COVID-19; Post-acute SARS-CoV-2; SARS-Cov-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow chart, the process of study selection. WOS Web of Science
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of included papers based on types of publication
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of included papers based on their methodology. RCT Randomized Clinical Trial
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Categories and main topics of included papers; Inner doughnut illustrates the categorization of documents, and the outer doughnut illustrates the main topics of each category. MIS Multisystem Inflammatory Response
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Number of articles according to dates of submission and publication
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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