Other New Treatments Under Study
Dr. Sanders believes the foundation for many of long COVID’s symptoms could be neurological.
“I think that long COVID is probably a neurologic disorder,” Dr. Sanders said.
Lindsey McAlpine, MD, director of the Yale Medicine NeuroCovid Clinic, is focusing on neuropsychiatric long COVID and the causes of neurologic post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (neuro-PASC). Symptoms of neuro-PASC include cognitive impairment, headaches, and dizziness.
“Lindsey is trying to see which parts of the brain are involved and see if there are phenotypes of brain abnormalities that match up with clinical abnormalities,” Dr. Sanders said.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke recently awarded her a 5-year K23 grant to support her ongoing study, “Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarkers of Post-COVID-19 Cerebral Microvascular Dysfunction.”
Utilizing advanced MRI techniques to identify microvascular dysfunction biomarkers in the brain, Dr. McAlpine hopes to unearth and better understand the pathophysiology behind neurological issues post COVID.
Many of Dr. McAlpine’s patients with cognitive symptoms have responded well to NAC and guanfacine.
Still, the hope is that her brain-imaging studies will bear fruit that leads to a better understanding of long COVID and new treatment methods.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.