Linköping University researchers delved into the brains of 16 COVID-19 patients grappling with persistent symptoms after hospitalization, discovering variations in brain tissue structure compared to healthy individuals. Their study, published in Brain Communications, shines light on the underlying causes of prolonged neurological issues post-COVID-19.
While prior studies using MRI scans uncovered differences between affected and healthy brains, these variations weren’t exclusive to COVID-19. Ida Blystad, a neuroradiologist at Linköping University Hospital, stresses the challenge of explaining patients’ difficulties without corresponding MRI evidence. Emphasizing the need for alternative diagnostic technologies to decode post-COVID-19 brain alterations.
The team employed an advanced type of MRI, diffusion MRI, focusing on the brain’s white matter—the nerve axon-rich part responsible for inter-brain and body signal transmission. This tech detects minute nerve axon organizational changes, offering insights other imaging tools might miss.
Deneb Boito, a doctoral student, likens diffusion MRI to a bustling city at night, where car lights hint at unseen roads, echoing how this MRI reveals the brain’s microscopic construction by tracking water molecule movement along neural pathways.
Diffusion MRI’s water-based approach indirectly visualizes neural pathways’ structure, analogous to perceiving a busy motorway through car movements. This technology, pivotal in stroke diagnosis and surgical planning, scrutinized 16 men with lingering COVID-19 symptoms from the Linköping COVID-19 Study (LinCos) against a healthy, non-hospitalized group. Their brains underwent both conventional and advanced diffusion MRI.
Findings unveiled notable distinctions in white matter structure between the two groups, possibly contributing to neurological issues post-severe COVID-19. Despite the alignment with previous studies, caution prevails due to the small sample size.
The team aims to dive deeper, exploring regional white matter discrepancies’ significance and their potential connection to brain function. Additionally, longitudinal studies will probe these differences over time, shedding light on the permanence or evolution of these brain alterations in post-COVID-19 patients.
