tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Clin Infect Dis
. 2021 Jul 5;ciab611.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab611. Online ahead of print.
Persistent symptoms in adult patients one year after COVID-19: a prospective cohort study
Jessica Seeßle[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tim Waterboer[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Theresa Hippchen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Julia Simon[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marietta Kirchner[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Adeline Lim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Barbara Müller[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Uta Merle[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Long COVID is defined as the persistence of symptoms beyond 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. To better understand the long-term course and etiology of symptoms we analyzed a cohort of COVID-19 patients prospectively.
Methods: Patients were included at 5 months after acute COVID-19 in this prospective, non-interventional follow-up study. Patients followed until 12 months after COVID-19 symptom onset (n=96, 32.3% hospitalised, 55.2% females) were included in this analysis of symptoms, quality of life (based on a SF-12 survey), laboratory parameters including antinuclear antibodies (ANA), and SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels.
Results: At month 12, only 22.9% of patients were completely free of symptoms and the most frequent symptoms were reduced exercise capacity (56.3%), fatigue (53.1%), dyspnoea (37.5%), concentration problems (39.6%), problems finding words (32.3%), and sleeping problems (26.0%). Females showed significantly more neurocognitive symptoms than males.ANA titres were ≥1:160 in 43.6% of patients at 12 months post COVID-19 symptom onset, and neurocognitive symptom frequency was significantly higher in the group with an ANA titre ≥1:160 compared to <1:160. Compared to patients without symptoms, patients with at least one long COVID symptom at 12 months did not differ significantly with respect to their SARS-CoV-2-antibody levels, but had a significantly reduced physical and mental life quality compared to patients without symptoms.
Conclusions: Neurocognitive long COVID symptoms can persist at least for one year after COVID-19 symptom onset, and reduce life quality significantly. Several neurocognitive symptoms were associated with ANA titre elevations. This may indicate autoimmunity as cofactor in aetiology of long COVID.
Keywords: ANA titers; Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19); life quality; long COVID; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).
. 2021 Jul 5;ciab611.
doi: 10.1093/cid/ciab611. Online ahead of print.
Persistent symptoms in adult patients one year after COVID-19: a prospective cohort study
Jessica Seeßle[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Tim Waterboer[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Theresa Hippchen[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Julia Simon[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Marietta Kirchner[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Adeline Lim[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Barbara Müller[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Uta Merle[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34223884
- DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciab611
Abstract
Background: Long COVID is defined as the persistence of symptoms beyond 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. To better understand the long-term course and etiology of symptoms we analyzed a cohort of COVID-19 patients prospectively.
Methods: Patients were included at 5 months after acute COVID-19 in this prospective, non-interventional follow-up study. Patients followed until 12 months after COVID-19 symptom onset (n=96, 32.3% hospitalised, 55.2% females) were included in this analysis of symptoms, quality of life (based on a SF-12 survey), laboratory parameters including antinuclear antibodies (ANA), and SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels.
Results: At month 12, only 22.9% of patients were completely free of symptoms and the most frequent symptoms were reduced exercise capacity (56.3%), fatigue (53.1%), dyspnoea (37.5%), concentration problems (39.6%), problems finding words (32.3%), and sleeping problems (26.0%). Females showed significantly more neurocognitive symptoms than males.ANA titres were ≥1:160 in 43.6% of patients at 12 months post COVID-19 symptom onset, and neurocognitive symptom frequency was significantly higher in the group with an ANA titre ≥1:160 compared to <1:160. Compared to patients without symptoms, patients with at least one long COVID symptom at 12 months did not differ significantly with respect to their SARS-CoV-2-antibody levels, but had a significantly reduced physical and mental life quality compared to patients without symptoms.
Conclusions: Neurocognitive long COVID symptoms can persist at least for one year after COVID-19 symptom onset, and reduce life quality significantly. Several neurocognitive symptoms were associated with ANA titre elevations. This may indicate autoimmunity as cofactor in aetiology of long COVID.
Keywords: ANA titers; Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19); life quality; long COVID; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).