The ACDC study: Assessing Cognitive Deterioration in COVID-19
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The ACDC study: Assessing Cognitive Deterioration in COVID-19 Cognitive Impairment after COVID-19 - Inflammatory and Neural Correlates: A pilot study
IRAS ID
314094
Contact name
Jonathan McLaughlin
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Grampian
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 2 days
Research summary
The effects of COVID-19 infection on the brain and the link to cognitive impairment has been emphasised as an area of priority research (Samkaria et al. 2021).
Work done already is starting to suggest that COVID-19 infection may lead to identifiable brain changes. A large study (Douaud et al. 2022) looking at structural imaging of patients before and after COVID-19 infection using UK Biobank data found evidence of these changes. This mainly involved areas involved in smell but wider involvement was discussed in the context of memory impairment and reported cognitive change in subjects. A much smaller study (Hosp et al. 2021) correlated functional imaging changes, FDG-PET, with cognitive impairment in patients hospitalised with COVID-19.
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) is an imaging technology that represents a non-invasive diagnostic tool for evaluating white matter injury in the brain and can provide valuable information regarding underlying pathogenesis. Most importantly, MR spectroscopy can identify neurochemical abnormalities even in the absence of corresponding findings on structural MR brain imaging. This is important, in that many patients with persistent cognitive symptoms have normal conventional brain imaging (Hellgren et al. 2021).
A significant number of patients have already indicated that a leading concern for them is cognitive change associated with COVID-19 infection. We will be offering neuropsychometric testing to all patients who report persistent cognitive symptoms. We will be trying to understand the particular pattern of the cognitive difficulties encountered by patients. It will be important to consider why it is that some patients report prolonged symptoms in general and prolonged cognitive symptoms specifically. Neuroimaging, and MRS specifically, could help to provide answers to these questions.
The proposed project will enable research into a common adverse outcome of COVID-19 infection, which has both national recognition and significant morbidity.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SC/0354
Date of REC Opinion
16 Sep 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion