• Long-Term Influence of Pediatr...

Treffer: Long-Term Influence of Pediatric Long COVID Syndrome on Visual Perception and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms.

Title:
Long-Term Influence of Pediatric Long COVID Syndrome on Visual Perception and Neuropsychiatric Symptoms.
Authors:
Chen TY; Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan., Chu YJ; Department of Pediatric Neurology, National Taiwan University Children's Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Children's Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan., Hsu CJ; Department of Pediatrics, Hsin-Chu Branch, National Taiwan University Hospital, Hsinchu City, Taiwan., Wang HP; Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital Yunlin Branch, Douliou, Yunlin County, Taiwan., Wong LC; Department of Pediatric Neurology, National Taiwan University Children's Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan., Lee WT; Graduate Institute of Brain and Mind Sciences, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Pediatric Neurology, National Taiwan University Children's Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: wangtsolee@ntu.edu.tw.
Source:
Pediatric neurology [Pediatr Neurol] 2025 Dec; Vol. 173, pp. 22-29. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Aug 28.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Elsevier Science Publishing Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8508183 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-5150 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 08878994 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Pediatr Neurol Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Publication: New York Ny : Elsevier Science Publishing
Original Publication: Chippewa Falls, Wis. : Professional Publications, [c1985-
MeSH Terms:
COVID-19*/complications , COVID-19*/diagnostic imaging , COVID-19*/physiopathology , COVID-19*/psychology , Visual Perception*/physiology , Brain*/diagnostic imaging , Brain*/pathology , Gray Matter*/diagnostic imaging , Gray Matter*/pathology, Humans ; Child ; Male ; Female ; Adolescent ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuropsychological Tests ; Severity of Illness Index
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: COVID-19 infection; Children; Long COVID syndrome; Neuroimage; Visual perception
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20250926 Date Completed: 20251114 Latest Revision: 20251114
Update Code:
20251115
DOI:
10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2025.08.018
PMID:
41004911
Database:
MEDLINE

Weitere Informationen

Background: Long COVID presents with a wide range of persistent symptoms and durations following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. However, data on children and adolescents remain limited. This study aims to explore visual perception and neuropsychiatric symptoms in pediatric patients and examine their associations with brain volume differences.
Methods: A total of 60 participants, aged six to 18 years and confirmed COVID-19 antibody positive, were recruited five to eight months after infection. Owing to the diversity of symptoms, each symptom was assigned a weighted score from 0 to 3 based on its severity and relevance to brain function. Participants were then divided into two groups according to symptom severity. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging, and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-Fourth Edition (TVPS-4) was administered.
Results: The most common neuropsychiatric symptoms were headache or dizziness, along with attention and memory deficits, which persisted for up to six months. Gray matter volumes were significantly increased in the group with severe symptoms, particularly in subcortical and temporal regions. These brain volume differences showed significant correlations with both acute and chronic symptoms. In the TVPS-4 assessment, significant differences were observed in overall standard scores and in the Sequential Memory subtest between participants with visual-related symptoms and healthy control subjects.
Conclusions: Neuropsychiatric symptoms, impaired visual perception, and gray matter volume differences are evident in pediatric long COVID cases. The severity of neuropsychiatric symptoms during the acute phase may predict the degree of chronic-phase brain volume alterations. Longitudinal follow-up studies are essential to validate and expand upon these findings.
(Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.