Prolonged Cerebral Physiological Dysfunction in Young Adults Post-COVID-19: Insights from a Case-Control MRI Study

Motivation: Whether post-COVID-19 young adults suffering from functional brain dysfunctions remains unclear. Goal(s): To investigate functional brain changes in young adults following SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection using MRI. Approach: Young adult patients and matched controls were recruited and assessed for blood-brain barrier integrity, oxygen metabolism, and cerebral blood flow. Correlations between the duration since infection and functional metrics were analyzed using polynomial linear and second order regression models, adjusting for age, sex, and BMI. An event study was utilized for visualization. Results: Post-COVID-19 young adult patients exhibited transient blood-brain barrier dysfunction, hypoxia, along with prolonged impairments in cerebral blood supply and oxygen metabolism. Impact: These findings offer critical insights into cerebral dysfunction following COVID-19. The persistence of impairments in cerebral blood supply and oxygen metabolism beyond SpO2 recovery confirms long-standing damage to fundamental brain functions and provides key pathological evidence for long-COVID neurological manifestations.