Examining White Matter Hyperintensities, Hippocampal Subfields, and Cognitive Function in Recovered COVID-19 Patients
Motivation: COVID-19 negatively impacts brain health, with clinical MRI showing a wide range of neurologic manifestations but no consistent pattern. Goal(s): Determine whether differences exist in white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden, hippocampal volume, and cognitive function between COVID-19 patients with and without hospitalization. Approach: 190 participants were scanned at 7T across three USA and one UK sites. MP2RAGE, FLAIR, and TSE sequences were analyzed. Results: We observed similar WMH, smaller hippocampal volumes, and poorer cognitive performance in age-matched hospitalized patients. Impact: This study contributes to understanding the neurological impact of COVID-19, revealing that hospitalized patients experience hippocampal volume reduction and cognitive decline. It emphasizes the utility of advanced 7T MRI in detecting subtle brain changes, guiding future research and clinical care.
Authors
- Heidi I.L. Jacobs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7620-3822)
- Gabriel de Erausquin
- Mohamad Habes
- Sudha S. Seshadri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6135-2622)
- Timothy D. Girard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9833-4871)
- Valentina R. Garbarino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0973-7186)
- Joseph Mettenburg
- Anna L. Marsland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8951-7513)
- Jayandra Himali
- Akram A. Hosseini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0133-9842)
- Beth E. Snitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9978-1374)
- Farhaan Vahidy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3464-2111)
- Vibhuti Patel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2305-9772)
- Howard Jay Aizenstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4897-6582)
- Jr‐Jiun Liou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8800-9557)
- Peter J. Gianaros (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2313-5277)
- Christof Karmonik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6695-9535)
- Tales Santini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4533-9190)
- Jinghang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5340-8291)
- Monica Gireud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5172-2351)
- Minjie Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8978-3851)
- Tamer S. Ibrahim
- Oluwatobi Adeyemi
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition
- Published
- 2025-09-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.58530/2025/3934
- Primary Topic
- Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00