Abstract #0978
Fatigue, smell and cognitive functions: multimodal MRI can explain the long-COVID syndrome
Elena Grosso1, Antonio Ricciardi2, Madiha Shatila2, Michael S. Zandi3, Marios C. Yannakas2, Ferran Prados2,4,5, Baris Kanber2,4, Jed Wingrove2, Nicolò Rolandi1,2,6, Karin Shmueli7, Francesco Grussu2,8, Marco Battiston2, Rebecca S. Samson2, Olga Ciccarelli2,9, Rachel L. Battheram9,10, Janine Makaronidis10,11, Egidio D'Angelo1,12, Fulvia Palesi1,12, Carmen Tur2,13, and Claudia A.M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott1,2,12
1Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy, 2NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 3Dept of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United Kingdom, 4Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC), University College London, London, United Kingdom, 5E-Health Center, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, 6Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 7Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 8Radiomics Group, Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology, Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain, 9National Institute of Health Research, Biomedical Research Centre at UCLH and UCL, London, United Kingdom, 10Centre for Obesity Research, Department of Medicine, University College London, London, United Kingdom, 11National Institute of Health Research, UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom, 12Digital Neuroscience Centre, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy, 13Neurology-Neuroimmunology Department Multiple Sclerosis Centre of Catalonia (Cemcat), Vall d’Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain
Synopsis
Keywords: Data Processing, COVID-19, statistical models, clinical scores, fatigue, anosmia, cognitive impairment, multimodal qMRI
Motivation: Long-COVID is a disabling health problem caused by SARS-COV-2 syndrome, whose underlying biological mechanisms are still debated.
Goal(s): This study aimed at finding the set of quantitative MRI (qMRI) metrics that best correlate with fatigue, smell (i.e. anosmia),and cognitive dysfunction, common in this condition.
Approach: People with COVID19 history with and without long-COVID were assessed through a multimodal one-hour-long qMRI protocol and underwent clinical evaluation.
Results: Correlation analyses between qMRI metrics and clinical scores showed that neurite density index changes explain both fatigue and smell function (also affected by changes in brain stem volume),while mean diffusivity and magnetic susceptibility changes explain cognitive function.
Impact: This work sheds light on the underlying biological mechanisms of long-COVID (anosmia, fatigue, and cognitive impairment). Metrics sensitive to microstructure, inflammation and possible iron accumulation best explain persistent symptoms, emphasizing the role of multimodal qMRI in the clinic.
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