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Increased prevalence of mild myopathic changes in the post-COVID-19 duration

2023; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 46; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01616412.2023.2258034

1743-1328

Ayşegül Gündüz, Merve Hazal Ser, Fatma Zehra Çalıkuşu, Uygur Tanrıverdi, Hikmet Abbaszade, Sena Hakyemez, İ̇lker İnanç Balkan, Rıdvan Karaali, Fatih Kantarcı, Nurten Uzun Adatepe,

Peripheral Neuropathies and Disorders

ABSTRACTObjective There are reports of peripheral nerve and muscle involvement during or after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), even following a mild infection. Here, we aimed to analyze the objective findings regarding peripheral nerve, neuromuscular junction, and muscle function using electrophysiology in patients with a previous COVID-19 infection.Methods All consecutive patients with a history of COVID-19 were questioned for post-COVID-19 duration-related neurological complaints via Composite Autonomic Symptom Score-31 (COMPASS-31), modified Toronto Neuropathy score (mTORONTO), and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). Patients were dichotomized into two groups based on their scores in the questionnaire. Group 1 (patients with high scores in any area of the questionnaire) and Group 2 (patients with normal scores in all sections of the questionnaire). In the second step, Group 1 was invited to a preplanned hospital visit for electrophysiological analysis, including nerve conduction studies, repetitive nerve stimulation, needle electromyography (EMG), quantitative motor unit potential analysis (qMUP), and single fiber EMG. We included 106 patients in the study. According to the questionnaire, 38 patients constituted Group 1, and 68 formed Group 2.Results Of the 38 patients, 14 accepted and underwent preplanned electrophysiological examinations. Needle EMG revealed small, short, polyphasic MUPs with early recruitment, and qMUP analysis demonstrated an increased percentage of polyphasic potentials in three patients. The examinations in other patients were unremarkable.Conclusions The high prevalence of complaints and objective myopathic findings in our cohort implicated the role of muscle involvement in the post-COVID-19 duration. Considering the socioeconomic and psychological burden of the post-COVID-19 duration among individuals and societies, a better understanding of the symptoms and myopathy is warranted.KEYWORDS: Post-COVID-19 durationmyopathyquantitative motor unit action potential analysismyogenic motor unit potentialsfatigue AcknowledgmentsPart of the data included in this study were used in another study by the authors (Ser, M.H., Çalıkuşu, F.Z., Tanrıverdi, U. et al. Autonomic and neuropathic complaints of long-COVID objectified: an investigation from electrophysiological perspective. Neurol Sci 43, 6167–6177 (2022)).Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Supplementary MaterialSupplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01616412.2023.2258034Additional informationFundingThe author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.