Early Cognitive Assessment and Evolutionary Monitoring of Patients With Severe ARDS on COVID-19 Pneumonia Requiring Mechanical Ventilation

The new coronavirus pandemic responsible for the severe acute respiratory syndrome SARS-CoV2 requires, in its severe forms, the use of invasive ventilation in intensive care.

The first patients seen in intensive care presented with neurological symptoms and usually not seen in non-viral ARDS or due to other viral causes. These were mainly restless awakenings, attempts at self-extubation and confusional syndromes. Although the data in the literature do not seem to reveal the presence of SARS-CoV2 in the CSF of these patients, certain elements seem to show parenchymal brain damage with the description of hypometabolism of the frontal regions. In addition, most of these patients present a memory complaint after going into intensive care (personal data not published).

We do not know to date what is the cognitive and psychic profile of these patients, nor what will be their future evolution. Some patients may require specific neuro-cognitive rehabilitation.

The aim of this study is to assess the cognitive profile of patients infected with COVID-19 who have used invasive ventilation in the intensive care unit of Paris Saint-Joseph hospital since April 2020, in order to be able to compare them between them and follow their evolution in the medium term. This work could make it possible to describe the specific cognitive impairment of SARS-CoV2, by trying to evade other causes of cognitive disorders in patients hospitalized in intensive care for respiratory distress (hypoxia, treatments, metabolic disorders, etc.).

The main objective is to follow the medium-term evolution between 3 and 6 months of the cognitive profile of patients with severe form of SARS-CoV2 with the use of ventilatory resuscitation.