Fatigue in Post-COVID-Condition is accompanied by hypoperfusion of right-occipital areas
🔥A German eye-opener: COVID-19 itself leaves lasting brain blood-flow reduction, even after full recovery!
➡️“In PCC patients, fatigue was associated with reduced perfusion in right-sided occipital regions, suggesting a potential pathophysiological basis for this symptom.”
➡️“These findings may also provide an imaging biomarker to aid in the diagnosis of PCC”.
‼️But when we dig deeper:
➡️In this prospective cohort of Post-COVID Condition (PCC) patients, severe fatigue (especially physical) strongly correlated with reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) in the right middle and inferior occipital gyrus.
➡️No global or cortical atrophy vs. recovered COVID-19 controls (FreeSurfer analysis).
➡️No significant group differences in regional CBF after FDR correction, but at an exploratory threshold (p<0.005) reduced CBF in right angular & middle occipital gyrus in PCC, was demonstrated.
➡️SARS-CoV-2 infection itself – even mild and fully recovered – causes persistent cerebral hypoperfusion (mainly frontotemporal) that can still be detected months later.
➡️Previous Long COVID imaging studies that used never-infected “healthy” controls were therefore confounded, much of the reported hypoperfusion may simply reflect residual effects of having had COVID-19, not PCC-specific pathology.
➡️By using recovered COVID-19 subjects as controls, this study better isolates fatigue-related right-sided occipital hypoperfusion as a feature more specific to ongoing Post-COVID Condition, mirroring patterns seen in ME/CFS.
‼️So, if I summarised correctly:
- Everyone who had COVID-19 tends to have some lasting reduction in brain blood flow (CBF), mainly in frontotemporal areas – even if they feel 100% recovered.
- In Post-COVID Condition (PCC) the decline is more pronounced in severity and more localised to right parieto-occipital regions, and this specific occipital reduction strongly tracks with fatigue.
😷Do you still want to get re-infected? AVOID SARSCOV2!!
https://t.co/fKK5W947O6
@holo_cene i also wish you had novavax availability. compared to moderna, i get zero side effects from Nvx. i know you didn’t do it intentionally but that’s one of the reasons i only get a single vax at a time - if im gonna get side effects, more than one vax is sure to compound them
Police removed diabetes scientists from the convention center here in New Orleans today after they attempted to pass out copies of an editorial from a peer-reviewed scientific journal (impact factor = 16.6) that was critical of NIH.
@jasondunesbury@SpencerHakimian i don’t know but one day ago a magat i (v reluctantly/no choice) know received a mailing from her that looked like a fkn wedding invite
@BagTooth so much agreement. i know someone who’s also a horrible driver who happens to also be a psychopath 😱.i ALMOST had to get in their car this morning and it’s just so odd to come across your tweet when i haven’t seen your posts for a very long time. i hope you’re in good spirits ♥️