Clinical Conundrum: Dysphagia in a Patient with COVID-19 and Progressive Muscle Weakness

Research progress of post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection

SARS-CoV-2 has spread rapidly worldwide and infected hundreds of millions of people worldwide. With the increasing number of COVID-19 patients discharged from hospitals, the emergence of its associated complications, sequelae, has become a new global health crisis secondary to acute infection. For the time being, such complications and sequelae are collectively called "Post-acute sequelae after SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC)", also referred to as "long COVID" syndrome. Similar to the acute infection period of COVID-19, there is also heterogeneity in PASC. This article reviews the various long-term complications and sequelae observed in multiple organ systems caused by COVID-19, pathophysiological mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of PASC, aiming to raise awareness of PASC and optimize management strategies.

Self-perceived dysphagia in non-invasively ventilated COVID-19 patients

PURPOSE

COVID-19 is known to present with a wide range of clinical symptoms. COVID-19-related dysphagia has been frequently investigated in patients who were critically ill and mechanically ventilated, but not in those with less severe presentations. This study aims to identify the frequency, characteristics, and severity of self-perceived oropharyngeal dysphagia in non-intubated COVID-19 patients.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from patients using a self-administered questionnaire that included the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10).

RESULTS

The study included 359 participants with a median age of 34 (range: 18-65) years. Self-perceived dysphagia (EAT-10 total score > 2) was identified in 64.62%, and their median EAT-10 total score was 13 (range 3-40). The most prevalent symptoms were painful swallowing, affected pleasure of eating, stressful swallowing, and coughing while eating. Age, gender, and hospitalization were not statistically significantly associated with the presence of dysphagia, while re-infection, duration, and severity of COVID-19 diagnosis were. The EAT-10 total score was higher in moderate and severe COVID-19 cases as compared to mild cases, and showed a statistically significant inverse correlation with the duration of COVID-19 (r = - 0.267).

CONCLUSION

Self-perceived dysphagia was prevalent in non-intubated COVID-19 patients. Its severity was related to that of COVID-19 and its duration.

Prolonged Dysphagia After a COVID-19 Infection in a Patient With Parkinson Disease

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease 2019 might have an impact on patients with Parkinson disease because of the neuroinvasive potential. Herein, we report the case of a patient with Parkinson disease who developed severe and prolonged oropharyngeal dysphagia after a coronavirus disease 2019 infection. A 73-yr-old male patient with Parkinson disease was diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 and admitted to a tertiary care hospital. Before hospitalization, he was assessed at Hoehn and Yahr stage 4 and showed no symptoms of dysphagia. After admission, the patient gradually recovered; however, he was fed through a nasogastric tube. A videofluoroscopic swallowing study revealed a severe oropharyngeal dysphagia with a severely delayed oral phase. Therefore, he underwent percutaneous gastrostomy tube insertion. After discharge, although he received swallowing therapy for 4 mos, he still had severe dysphagia, which made him dependent on enteral feeding. We speculate that the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on dopaminergic and nondopaminergic mechanisms could lead to the development of dysphagia in this patient. The present case suggests that clinicians must have a high index of suspicion without dismissing the possibility of dysphagia and subsequent aspiration pneumonia in coronavirus disease 2019 patients with Parkinson disease.

Rehabilitation and COVID-19: a rapid living systematic review 2020 by Cochrane Rehabilitation Field. Update as of October 31st, 2020

INTRODUCTION

This living systematic review presents the monthly update of the second edition of the rapid living systematic review 2020 conducted by Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER Action Steering Committee. The aim of this study was to update the monthly COVID-19 and rehabilitation literature research up to October 31^st, 2020.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

Methodology described in the second edition of the rapid living systematic review 2020 conducted by Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER action was applied. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and PEDro databases were searched, and papers related to COVID-19 and rehabilitation were retrieved and summarized descriptively.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

The database search retrieved 2704 publications. Duplicates were removed, and 1185 unique records were screened for inclusion. After screening titles, abstracts and full-texts, 22 papers were included in the present review. According to OCEBM 2011 Levels of Evidence table, 17 studies (77%) fall within the level of evidence 4 category, while the remainder (23%) are categorized as level of evidence 3. Most studies (N.=19; 86%) provided epidemiological data about the disease natural history/determining factor or the clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection, while only two studies focused on health service organization and intervention efficacy.

CONCLUSIONS

The most recent published COVID-19 research relevant to rehabilitation primarily provides data on the clinical course and the clinical presentation of the pathology, rather than on rehabilitation interventions or service delivery. Studies with high levels of evidence regarding the efficacy of interventions, long-term monitoring, or new health service organization models are lacking.