ABSTRACT
Background: Despite the acute infection's remission, COVID-19 is associated with clinically severe residual symptoms (i.e., post-COVID-19 syndrome). One of the most prevalent and incapacitating symptoms of the syndrome is fatigue, accompanied by cognitive impairment. Very few therapy options are effective for post-acute SARS-Cov-2 sequelae (PASC). There is a possibility that non-invasive brain stimulation methods could become successful and convenient treatment options for post-acute and chronic COVID-19. There are already the first clinical results for the use of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the therapy of PASC. Our goal was to study the potential tDCS effect on cognitive impairment in patients with PASC. Method(s): We present a four-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel study with a 4-week active dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) tDCS (20 tDCS applications;anode on the F3;2 mA, 30 min/tDCS session). Patients were evaluated with tests measuring attention (digit span forward), working memory (digit span backward), and psychomotor speed (digit symbol substitution test) at baseline, after two weeks, and at the end of four weeks of treatment. The tests were chosen according to previous studies on the assessment of cognitive function in patients after COVID-19. Result(s): 15 out of 34 enrolled patients were included in Intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis. The treatment groups did not differ in age, gender, and baseline cognitive tests. There wasn't a significant difference in cognitive tests results between active DLPFC tDCS and sham tDCS after four weeks. However, the study is still in progress and the results will be updated. No major side effects were observed during and after the treatment. Supported by grant No. NU22-D-133 of the MH CR. Research Category and Technology and Methods Clinical Research: 9. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Keywords: cognitive symptoms, post-acute sequelae of SARS-Cov-2, transcranial direct current stimulation, dorsolateral prefrontal cortexCopyright © 2023