Since the pandemic struck, researchers have been discovering ways in which COVID-19 affects other parts of the body, as well as the lungs.
Now, for the first time, a visual correlation has been found between the severity of the disease in the lungs using CT scans and the severity of effects on patients’ brains, using MRI scans. This research is published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology. He will be exhibited at the 59th annual meeting of the American Society of Neuroradology (ASNR) and was also selected as a semifinalist for that organization’s Cornelius Dyke Award.
The findings show that, by looking at lung CT scans of COVID-19-diagnosed patients, physicians could predict just how badly they could develop other brain problems. may appear on brain MRI, helping to improve patient outcomes and identifying symptoms for earlier treatment.
CT images can detect disease in the lungs better than MRI, another medical imaging technique. However, MRI can detect many brain disorders, especially in COVID-19 patients, that cannot be detected on CT images.
The study was led by Achala Vagal, MD, professor in the department of radiology, and Abdelkader Mahammedi, MD, assistant professor of radiation. Both are UC Health radiologists and members of the UC Gardner Institute of Neuroscience.
“We’ve seen patients with COVID-19 get strokes, brain blows and other disorders affecting the brain,” says Mahammedi. “Thus, we discover, through patient experiences, that neurological symptoms are associated with those with more severe respiratory disease; however, little information was available on the identification of links that may be between images of the brain and lungs anomaly in COVID-19 patients.
“Images serve as a testament to physicians, confirming the progression and severity of an illness and helping to make final decisions about patient care.”
In this study, which was conducted not only at UC, but also at major centers in Spain, Italy and Brazil, researchers reviewed electronic medical records and images of COVID patients. -19 in the hospital from March 3 to June 25, 2020. Patients diagnosed with COVID-19, experienced neurological issues and had lung and brain images available.
Out of 135 COVID-19 patients with abnormal lung CT scans and neurological symptoms, 49, or 36%, were also found to develop abnormal brain scans and were more likely to experience stroke symptoms.
Mahammedi says this study will help physicians to classify patients, based on the severity of disease detected on their CT scans, into groups that are more likely to develop brain imaging disorders. He says this correlation could be important for implementing treatments, especially in stroke prevention, to improve outcomes in patients with COVID-19.
“These results are important because they further show that severe lung disease from COVID-19 can lead to severe brain problems, and we have the images to help diagnose it,” says Mahammedi. “Larger studies are needed in the future to help us better understand the connection, but for now, we hope that these results can be used to help pre- care and to ensure patients have the best outcomes. “
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Aging) (NS103824, NS117643, NS100417, 1U01NS100699, U01NS110772). Researchers do not cite conflicts of interest.
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Materials provided by University of Cincinnati. Original writing by Katie Pence. Note: Content can be edited for style and length.