Deleterious Outcomes in Long-Hauler COVID-19: The Effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the CNS in Chronic COVID Syndrome

Abstract

Amid our understanding of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the mechanisms involved in the causation of acute-phase coronavirus disease (COVID-19), we have come across clinical cases that have been shown to run a protracted course of COVID-19 with complex clinical findings related to organ systems in general and the CNS in particular that deserve to be addressed in the COVID long-haulers, for which the more clinically-related term chronic COVID syndrome (CCS) has been coined recently. An in-depth understanding of the mechanism that forms the basis of CCS and neurological deficits in CCS is needed as this can help in determining the management of cases of neuro-COVID, which is emerging as a less lethal but more disabling disease state. This Viewpoint highlights this syndrome, the possible pathogenetic pathways involved, and the treatment approaches that can be taken to help manage COVID long-haulers in CCS.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; chronic COVID syndrome; long-haulers; neurological findings in COVID-19.