During recent studies, a team of researchers tried to find how the Covid-19 virus affects various organs of a patient. The team tried to understand the effect of the virus on the lungs and brain of a patient using MRI scans.
According to the study, physicians can estimate how badly the virus will affect other neurological problems that could be caused by the virus by looking at the CT scans of the lungs. This will help the doctors better predict the possible outcomes and also identify symptoms earlier for effective treatment.
"We've seen patients with Covid-19 experience stroke, brain bleeds and other disorders affecting the brain," said researcher Abdelkader Mahammedi from the University of Cincinnati.
"So, we're finding, through patient experiences, that neurological symptoms are correlating to those with more severe respiratory disease; however, little information has been available on identifying potential associations between imaging abnormalities in the brain and lungs in Covid-19 patients," Mahammedi added.
Though MRIs can detect many problems in the brain, especially in Covid-19 patients, that a CT scan cannot. The scan can help in detecting illness in the lungs better than an MRI.
The study was published in the American Journal of Neuroradiology and the research team reviewed over 135 images of hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
According to reports, patients with Covid-19 had experienced neurological issues and hence the images of lungs and brain were studied.
Of the 135 patients, 36 per cent, were found to have abnormal brain scans and were more likely to experience stroke symptoms.
The researcher notes that this study will help physicians classify patients, based on the severity of disease found on their CT scans, into groups more likely to develop brain imaging abnormalities.
(With inputs from IANS)
