Cardio-Pulmonary Dysfunction Evaluation in Patients with Persistent Post-COVID-19 Headache

ABSTRACT

Background (1) Headache is a prevalent symptom experienced during ongoing SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also weeks after recovery. Whether cardio-pulmonary dysfunction contributes causally to headache persistence is unknown. Methods (2) We conducted a case-control analysis nested in a prospective cohort study. Individuals were recruited from August 2020 to December 2020. Patients were grouped according to the presence or absence of long-COVID headache for three months after COVID-19 resolution. We compared demographic data, clinical variables, cardio-pulmonary laboratory biomarkers, quality of life, and cardio-pulmonary function between groups. Results (3) A cohort of 70 COVID-19 patients was evaluated. Patients with headaches (n = 10;14.3%) were more frequently female (100% vs. 58.4%;p = 0.011) and younger (46.9 ±8.45 vs. 56.13 ±12 years;p = 0.023). No between-group differences in laboratory analysis, resting echocardiography, cardio-pulmonary exercise test, or pulmonary function tests were observed. Conclusion (4) In this exploratory study, no significant differences in cardio-pulmonary dysfunction were observed between patients with and without long-COVID headache during mid-term follow-up.