IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli (IS), Italy.
Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Cerebellum. 2024 Dec;23(6):2477-2486. doi: 10.1007/s12311-024-01751-5. Epub 2024 Oct 9.
In the past few years, SARS-CoV-2 infection has substantially impacted public health. Alongside respiratory symptoms, some individuals have reported new neurological manifestations or a worsening of pre-existing neurological conditions. We previously documented two cases of essential tremor (ET) who experienced a deterioration in tremor following SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on ET remain largely unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on a relatively broad sample of ET patients by retrospectively comparing their clinical and kinematic data collected before and after the exposure to SARS-CoV-2. We surveyed to evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on tremor features in ET. Subsequently, we retrospectively analysed clinical and kinematic data, including accelerometric recordings of postural and kinetic tremor. We included 36 ET patients (14 females with a mean age of 71.1 ± 10.6 years). Among the 25 patients who reported SARS-CoV-2 infection, 11 (44%) noted a subjective worsening of tremor. All patients reporting subjective tremor worsening also exhibited symptoms of long COVID, whereas the prevalence of these symptoms was lower (50%) in those without subjective exacerbation. The retrospective analysis of clinical data revealed a tremor deterioration in infected patients, which was not observed in non-infected patients. Finally, kinematic analysis revealed substantial stability of tremor features in both groups. The study highlighted a potential correlation between the SARS-CoV-2 infection and clinical worsening of ET. Long COVID contributes to a greater impact of tremor on the daily life of ET patients.
在过去的几年中，SARS-CoV-2 感染对公众健康造成了重大影响。除了呼吸道症状外，一些人还报告了新的神经系统表现或原有神经系统疾病的恶化。我们之前记录了两例特发性震颤（ET）患者，他们在 SARS-CoV-2 感染后震颤恶化。然而，SARS-CoV-2 对 ET 的影响在很大程度上仍未得到探索。本研究旨在通过回顾性比较 ET 患者在接触 SARS-CoV-2 前后收集的临床和运动学数据，评估 SARS-CoV-2 感染对相对广泛的 ET 患者群体的影响。我们调查了 SARS-CoV-2 感染对 ET 震颤特征的影响。随后，我们回顾性分析了临床和运动学数据，包括姿势和动力震颤的加速度记录。我们纳入了 36 例 ET 患者（14 名女性，平均年龄 71.1±10.6 岁）。在报告 SARS-CoV-2 感染的 25 名患者中，有 11 名（44%）患者报告震颤主观恶化。所有报告主观震颤恶化的患者均出现长新冠症状，而在没有主观恶化的患者中，这些症状的患病率较低（50%）。对临床数据的回顾性分析显示，感染患者的震颤恶化，而非感染患者则未观察到。最后，运动学分析显示两组震颤特征均具有较大的稳定性。该研究强调了 SARS-CoV-2 感染与 ET 临床恶化之间的潜在相关性。长新冠使 ET 患者的震颤对日常生活的影响更大。
