The American journal of medicine
-
Persistent multi-organ symptoms after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been termed "long COVID" or "post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection." The complexity of these clinical manifestations posed challenges early in the pandemic as different ambulatory models formed out of necessity to manage the influx of patients. Little is known about the characteristics and outcomes of patients seeking care at multidisciplinary post-COVID centers. ⋯ The experience at our multidisciplinary comprehensive COVID-19 center shows common utilization of multiple specialists by long COVID patients, who harbor frequent neurologic, pulmonary, and cardiologic abnormalities. Differences in post-hospitalization and non-hospitalized groups suggest distinct pathogenic mechanisms of long COVID in these populations.
-
Clinical details of long COVID are still not well understood because of potential confounding with a wide range of pre-existing comorbidities. ⋯ After adjusting for potential comorbidities and confounders, clinical symptoms, such as headache, chest discomfort, dysgeusia, and dysosmia, were found to be independently associated with a previous history of COVID-19, which was diagnosed 2 or more months previously. These protracted symptoms might have impacted QOL and the overall somatic symptom burden in subjects with a previous history of COVID-19.