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SHR Neuro Krebs Kardio Lipid Stoffw Microb

Gelpi, E; Klotz, S; Beyerle, M; Wischnewski, S; Harter, V; Kirschner, H; Stolz, K; Reisinger, C; Lindeck-Pozza, E; Zoufaly, A; Leoni, M; Gorkiewicz, G; Zacharias, M; Haberler, C; Hainfellner, J; Woehrer, A; Hametner, S; Roetzer, T; Voigtländer, T; Ricken, G; Endmayr, V; Haider, C; Ludwig, J; Polt, A; Wilk, G; Schmid, S; Erben, I; Nguyen, A; Lang, S; Simonitsch-Klupp, I; Kornauth, C; Nackenhorst, M; Kläger, J; Kain, R; Chott, A; Wasicky, R; Krause, R; Weiss, G; Löffler-Rag, J; Berger, T; Moser, P; Soleiman, A; Asslaber, M; Sedivy, R; Klupp, N; Klimpfinger, M; Risser, D; Budka, H; Schirmer, L; Pröbstel, AK; Höftberger, R.
Multifactorial White Matter Damage in the Acute Phase and Pre-Existing Conditions May Drive Cognitive Dysfunction after SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Neuropathology-Based Evidence.
Viruses. 2023; 15(4): Doi: 10.3390/v15040908 [OPEN ACCESS]
Web of Science PubMed PUBMED Central FullText FullText_MUG

 

Co-Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz
Asslaber Martin
Gorkiewicz Gregor
Krause Robert
Leoni Marlene
Zacharias Martin
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Abstract:
BACKGROUND: There is an urgent need to better understand the mechanisms underlying acute and long-term neurological symptoms after COVID-19. Neuropathological studies can contribute to a better understanding of some of these mechanisms. METHODS: We conducted a detailed postmortem neuropathological analysis of 32 patients who died due to COVID-19 during 2020 and 2021 in Austria. RESULTS: All cases showed diffuse white matter damage with a diffuse microglial activation of a variable severity, including one case of hemorrhagic leukoencephalopathy. Some cases revealed mild inflammatory changes, including olfactory neuritis (25%), nodular brainstem encephalitis (31%), and cranial nerve neuritis (6%), which were similar to those observed in non-COVID-19 severely ill patients. One previously immunosuppressed patient developed acute herpes simplex encephalitis. Acute vascular pathologies (acute infarcts 22%, vascular thrombosis 12%, diffuse hypoxic-ischemic brain damage 40%) and pre-existing small vessel diseases (34%) were frequent findings. Moreover, silent neurodegenerative pathologies in elderly persons were common (AD neuropathologic changes 32%, age-related neuronal and glial tau pathologies 22%, Lewy bodies 9%, argyrophilic grain disease 12.5%, TDP43 pathology 6%). CONCLUSIONS: Our results support some previous neuropathological findings of apparently multifactorial and most likely indirect brain damage in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection rather than virus-specific damage, and they are in line with the recent experimental data on SARS-CoV-2-related diffuse white matter damage, microglial activation, and cytokine release.
Find related publications in this database (using NLM MeSH Indexing)
Humans - administration & dosage
Aged - administration & dosage
COVID-19 - complications
SARS-CoV-2 - administration & dosage
White Matter - pathology
Preexisting Condition Coverage - administration & dosage
Nervous System Diseases - pathology
Cognitive Dysfunction - etiology
Neuritis - administration & dosage

Find related publications in this database (Keywords)
COVID-19
neuropathology
white matter
leukoencephalopathy
SARS-CoV-2
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