Testing for Dysautonomia in Patients Hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 Infection (COVID-19) : COVIDANS Study

Overview

A number of clinical features suggest the possibility of dysautonomia in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2). At the same time, there is now strong experimental evidence that SARS-CoV-2 can cross the blood-brain barrier, probably via the olfactory nerves, and reach the brain stem, which is located in close proximity. Damage to the brainstem nuclei could explain the suspected dysautonomic episodes, but also the severity of respiratory distress in infected patients, and the difficulty of ventilatory withdrawal encountered in resuscitation, potentially through damage to the ventilation control and regulation centers located in the brainstem. The objective of this study is to record the long term variability in heart rate, reflecting autonomic balance, of patients screened positive for SARS-CoV-2 throughout their stay in conventional care units at the Saint-Etienne University Hospital, in order to see whether there is an autonomic imbalance at screening, whether the worsening of the autonomic imbalance precedes the worsening of the clinical condition, and how quickly the expected correction of the autonomic imbalance follows or precedes that of the disease.

In this study, patients will have a continuous recording of their heart rhythm via a holter-ECG throughout their hospitalization.

Conditions

Interventions