B - 105 Long COVID: a Pediatric Neuropsychological Case Study.

Abstract

A neuropsychological case review of Long COVID. Long COVID remains to be a controversial topic in terms of cognitive residuals from contracting the virus. This child was referred due to acute cognitive changes post-COVID-19 contraction. Active COVID-19 infection was generally unremarkable. Patient did not require hospitalization or medication intervention. This patient is a 14-year-old, Caucasian, right-handed male. A psychiatrist referred the patient due to emotional (anxiety and oppositionality), cognitive (attention, reduced processing, memory, "brain fog,"), and physical (disrupted sleep, fatigue) changes post-infection. The diagnostic question was to rule out ADHD and oppositionality prior to obtaining MRI results. MRI of the brain, 30days post-infection, revealed multiple subcortical white matter lesions, located in the cerebral hemispheres near the grey-white matter junction, particularly in the frontal and parietal lobes. Patient was administered the Meyers Neuropsychological Battery (MNB). Findings were consistent with diffuse neuropsychological deficits, that is, reduced processing speed, impaired attention, and below average immediate and delayed memory (spatial > verbal). Psychological findings were consistent with an ongoing anxiety disorder. Initial diagnostic impression of ADHD and oppositional defiance was ruled-out. MNB analysis revealed a pattern of findings consistent with diffuse neuropsychological deficits relating to an inflammatory condition such as Long COVID. Memory, attention, and processing speed were below the cut-off, a finding in agreement with previous research showing impaired results, especially for memory. Because memory, as well as fatigue, seems to be affected by COVID-19, future research should explore possible interactions with cognition and fatigue following COVID-19.