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. 2022 Apr;12(4):e2513.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.2513. Epub 2022 Mar 15.

Cognitive decline and brainstem hypometabolism in long COVID: A case series

Jacques Hugon  1   2 , Mathieu Queneau  3 , Marta Sanchez Ortiz  1 , Eva Flore Msika  2 , Karim Farid  4 , Claire Paquet  1
Affiliations

Cognitive decline and brainstem hypometabolism in long COVID: A case series

Jacques Hugon et al. Brain Behav. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: To assess FDG cerebral PET in patients suffering from cognitive impairment linked to Long COVID. The COVID pandemic has affected dozens of millions of people around the world and has resulted in the deaths of more than 3 million people. Following the acute forms, it has been reported sometimes long forms of COVID, with involvements of several organs including the brain. Neurological complications can include cognitive disturbances (brain fog) that are very common and can seriously disturb the life of patients.

Methods: Fluorodeoxyglucose PETs were performed in 3 patients with cognitive decline following COVID infection.

Results: We report here 3 cases of brain fog with major hypometabolic areas of the pons revealed by the cerebral FDG PET.

Conclusion: The dysfunction of the locus coeruleus in these patients could partly explain the cognitive disorders observed. Further studies involving larger cohorts of patients suffering from cognitive dysfunction will be needed to determine if the brainstem is frequently affected in these patients.

Keywords: brainstem lesions; cerebral FDG PET; cognitive deficits; long COVID.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The results of the FDG PET imaging in the three patients. In patient 1, only the pons was mainly hypometabolic. In patient 2, in addition to the pons, the precuneus and the left parietal areas were hypometabolic. In patient 3, the pons and the cingulate cortex were found to be hypometabolic
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Case 1: These figures show the hypometabolic region of the brainstem (arrow)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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