POST COVID-19 NEUROLOGICAL SYNDROME - CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVE

ABSTRACT

There are currently 449,368,894 confirmed cases and 6,033,022 deaths from the coronavirus COVID- 19 outbreak as of March 08, 2022, leaving 443,335,872 survivors. The actual number of global COVID- 19 cases is likely to be two to three times higher than reported. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the novel virus responsible for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, resulting in unprecedented global health and economic crises with massive social impacts and massively strained health resources globally. COVID-19 is well recognized as a multi-organ disease with a broad spectrum of manifestations. During the early phases of the pandemic, patient advocacy groups, many members of which identify themselves as long COVID, have helped contribute to the recognition of post-acute COVID-19 Neurological Syndrome (PCNS), a syndrome characterized by persistent symptoms and delayed or long-term complications beyond four weeks from the onset of symptoms. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current literature on post-acute COVID- 19 Neurological Syndrome, its pathophysiology, and its organ-specific sequelae. We explore the shared pathobiological profiles of stroke and COVID-19 involvement in the brain with a significant impact on the long-term care of both groups of survivors. The paper will discuss the role of universal biomarker, serial systemic immune-inflammatory indices (SSIIi) in the context of PCNS and potential implications in post-stroke neurological complications to introduce a systems biology approach to promote brain health for all globally.