Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome and its prolonged effects: An updated systematic review

Talal Almas; Jahanzeb Malik; Abdulla K Alsubai; Syed Muhammad Jawad Zaidi; Raafe Iqbal; Kashif Khan; Muhammad Ali; Uzma Ishaq; Majid Alsufyani; Sebastian Hadeed; Reema Alsufyani; Reema Ahmed; Tushar Thakur; Helen Huang; Meetty Antony; Ishan Antony; Anhad Bhullar; Farida Kotait; Lubabah Al-Ani

doi:10.1016/j.amsu.2022.103995

Post-acute COVID-19 syndrome and its prolonged effects: An updated systematic review

Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022 Aug:80:103995. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2022.103995. Epub 2022 Jun 15.

Authors

Talal Almas¹, Jahanzeb Malik², Abdulla K Alsubai¹, Syed Muhammad Jawad Zaidi³, Raafe Iqbal⁴, Kashif Khan², Muhammad Ali², Uzma Ishaq⁵, Majid Alsufyani¹, Sebastian Hadeed¹, Reema Alsufyani¹, Reema Ahmed¹, Tushar Thakur⁶, Helen Huang¹, Meetty Antony⁷, Ishan Antony¹, Anhad Bhullar¹, Farida Kotait¹, Lubabah Al-Ani¹

Affiliations

¹ Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland.
² Department of Cardiology, Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan.
³ Department of Medicine, Rawalpindi Medical University, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Cardiology, Pakistan Ordinance Factories Hospital, Wah, 47040, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Hematology, Foundation University Medical College, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan.
⁶ National University of Ireland-Galway, Galway, Ireland.
⁷ Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgaum, India.

Abstract

Objective: This systematic review aimed at estimating the prevalence of post-acute COVID-19 symptoms in view of published literature that studied prolonged clinical manifestations after recovery from acute COVID-19 infection.

Methods: Relevant databases were searched for extraction of articles. For data synthesis, based on the distribution of quantitative variables, they were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) or median and interquartile range (IQR). Qualitative variables were presented as frequency (n) and percentages (%).

Results: Twenty-one articles qualified for the final analysis. The most common persistent clinical manifestations were fatigue (54.11%), dyspnea (24.38%), alopecia (23.21%), hyperhidrosis (23.6%), insomnia (25.98%), anxiety (17.29%), and arthralgia (16.35%). In addition to these symptoms, new-onset hypertension, diabetes, neuropsychiatric disorders, and bladder incontinence were also reported.

Conclusion: Clinical features of post-acute COVID-19 infection can manifest even after 60 days of initial infection. Multidisciplinary care along with regular follow-up must be provided to such patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; Long COVID; SARS-CoV-2.