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Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome
Background: A significant number of patients with COVID-19 experience prolonged symptoms, known as Long COVID. The most frequent symptoms are fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. We describe a patient suffering from Long COVID in whom adrenal involvement was highlighted. Methods: The patient described...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8537520/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34684123 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina57101087 |
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author | Salzano, Ciro Saracino, Giovanna Cardillo, Giuseppe |
author_facet | Salzano, Ciro Saracino, Giovanna Cardillo, Giuseppe |
author_sort | Salzano, Ciro |
collection | PubMed |
description | Background: A significant number of patients with COVID-19 experience prolonged symptoms, known as Long COVID. The most frequent symptoms are fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. We describe a patient suffering from Long COVID in whom adrenal involvement was highlighted. Methods: The patient described Long COVID symptoms that persist 3 months after the negativization of the molecular swab test. The main symptoms were weakness, brain fog, dizziness, and muscular and joint pain. All routine lab panels for inflammation, anemia, and thyroid and liver function were conducted. Moreover, salivary cortisol and DHEA-S determinations were used to compute the adrenal stress index (ASI). Results: All tests were negative, except the ASI that showed very low levels of free cortisol. The patient started hydrocortisone acetate supplementation. Conclusion: Long COVID symptoms could be explained by an adrenal involvement, due to a COVID-19 action on adrenal glands and by a iatrogenic side effect of high glucocorticoid therapy during the COVID-19 infection. Salivary cortisol determination is effective for establishing a correct recovery plan. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8537520 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-85375202021-10-24 Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome Salzano, Ciro Saracino, Giovanna Cardillo, Giuseppe Medicina (Kaunas) Case Report Background: A significant number of patients with COVID-19 experience prolonged symptoms, known as Long COVID. The most frequent symptoms are fatigue and cognitive dysfunction. We describe a patient suffering from Long COVID in whom adrenal involvement was highlighted. Methods: The patient described Long COVID symptoms that persist 3 months after the negativization of the molecular swab test. The main symptoms were weakness, brain fog, dizziness, and muscular and joint pain. All routine lab panels for inflammation, anemia, and thyroid and liver function were conducted. Moreover, salivary cortisol and DHEA-S determinations were used to compute the adrenal stress index (ASI). Results: All tests were negative, except the ASI that showed very low levels of free cortisol. The patient started hydrocortisone acetate supplementation. Conclusion: Long COVID symptoms could be explained by an adrenal involvement, due to a COVID-19 action on adrenal glands and by a iatrogenic side effect of high glucocorticoid therapy during the COVID-19 infection. Salivary cortisol determination is effective for establishing a correct recovery plan. MDPI 2021-10-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8537520/ /pubmed/34684123 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina57101087 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Case Report Salzano, Ciro Saracino, Giovanna Cardillo, Giuseppe Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome |
title | Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome |
title_full | Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome |
title_fullStr | Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome |
title_full_unstemmed | Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome |
title_short | Possible Adrenal Involvement in Long COVID Syndrome |
title_sort | possible adrenal involvement in long covid syndrome |
topic | Case Report |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8537520/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34684123 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina57101087 |
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