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. 2022 Jul:63:103946.
doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2022.103946. Epub 2022 Jun 6.

COVID-19 severity is associated with worsened neurological outcomes in multiple sclerosis and related disorders

Sarah E Conway  1 , Brian C Healy  2 , Jonathan Zurawski  1 , Christopher Severson  1 , Tamara Kaplan  1 , Lynn Stazzone  1 , Kristin Galetta  1 , Tanuja Chitnis  1 , Maria K Houtchens  3
Affiliations

COVID-19 severity is associated with worsened neurological outcomes in multiple sclerosis and related disorders

Sarah E Conway et al. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Neurologic outcomes in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and related disorders (MSRD) following COVID-19 is not well understood. The objective of this study was to investigate neurologic outcomes in patients with MSRD post-COVID-19.

Methods: This was a retrospective medical records review study of adult patients with MSRD and COVID-19 infection at the Brigham MS Center. Neurologic worsening post-COVID-19 was defined as having a relapse, pseudorelapse, new brain MRI activity, worsening of preexisting MSRD symptoms, or development of other long-term neurologic symptoms.

Results: 111 patients, 85 (76.6%) females, with a mean [SD] age of 49.3 [12.2] years and median [range] EDSS of 2.5 [0, 8.5] were identified. 41 patients (36.9%) had neurologic worsening post-COVID-19. Of those, 19 (46.3%) had pseudorelapses, 2 (4.8%) had relapses, and 24 (58.5%) patients reported worsening of preexisting MSRD symptoms, or other new long-term neurologic symptoms. Neurologic worsening was associated with hospitalized (moderate or severe) COVID-19 (p = 0.001), treatment for COVID-19 (p = 0.006), and incomplete COVID-19 recovery (p = 0.0267) but not with age, sex, MS type, race, disease duration, EDSS, vitamin D use, or disease modifying therapy use.

Conclusions: COVID-19 severity and lack of complete systemic recovery were associated with new or worsening neurologic symptoms in 36.9% of MSRD patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Clinical outcomes; Multiple sclerosis.

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Figures

Fig 1:
Fig. 1
COVID-19 severity and recovery: COVID-19 outcomes are indicated by colored sections on the bar graph and are grouped in rows by COVID-19 severity (y-axis). The x-axis represents numbers of patients. Not shown are 4 patients who had unknown COVID-19 severity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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