Bhaiyat AM, Sasson E, Wang Z, Khairy S, Ginzarly M, Qureshi U, Fikree M, Efrati S, et al.
Journal of medical case reports. Date of publication 2022 Feb 15;volume 16(1):80.
1. J Med Case Rep. 2022 Feb 15;16(1):80. doi: 10.1186/s13256-022-03287-w.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment for long coronavirus disease-19: a case report.
Bhaiyat AM(1), Sasson E(2), Wang Z(3), Khairy S(3), Ginzarly M(3), Qureshi U(3),
Fikree M(4), Efrati S(5).
Author information:
(1)Aviv Clinics, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
aisha@aviv-clinics.ae.
(2)Aviv Scientific Ltd, 7 Mezada Street, Bnei Brak, Israel.
(3)Aviv Clinics, Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
(4)Rashid Hospital Trauma Center, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
(5)Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research, Shamir Medical Center,
Israel Sackler School of Medicine and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel-Aviv
University, Tel Aviv, Israel. efratishai@outlook.com.
BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has resulted in a growing
population of individuals who experience a wide range of persistent symptoms
referred to as "long COVID." Symptoms include neurocognitive impairment and
fatigue. Two potential mechanisms could be responsible for these long-term
unremitting symptoms: hypercoagulability, which increases the risk of blood
vessel occlusion, and an uncontrolled continuous inflammatory response.
Currently, no known treatment is available for long COVID. One of the options to
reverse hypoxia, reduce neuroinflammation, and induce neuroplasticity is
hyperbaric oxygen therapy. In this article, we present the first case report of
a previously healthy athletic individual who suffered from long COVID syndrome
treated successfully with hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
CASE PRESENTATION: A previously healthy 55-year-old Caucasian man presented
3 months after severe coronavirus disease 2019 infection with long COVID
syndrome. His symptoms included a decline in memory, multitasking abilities,
energy, breathing, and physical fitness. After evaluation that included brain
perfusion magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, computerized
cognitive tests, and cardiopulmonary test, he was treated with hyperbaric oxygen
therapy. Each session included exposure to 90 minutes of 100% oxygen at 2
atmosphere absolute pressure with 5-minute air breaks every 20 minutes for 60
sessions, 5 days per week. Evaluation after completing the treatment showed
significant improvements in brain perfusion and microstructure by magnetic
resonance imaging and significant improvement in memory with the most dominant
effect being on nonverbal memory, executive functions, attention, information
procession speed, cognitive flexibility, and multitasking. The improved
cognitive functions correlated with the increased cerebral blood flow in brain
regions as measured by perfusion magnetic resonance imaging. With regard to
physical capacity, there was a 34% increase in the maximum rate of oxygen
consumed during exercise and a 44% improvement in forced vital capacity. The
improved physical measurements correlated with the regain of his pre-COVID
physical capacity.
CONCLUSIONS: We report the first case of successfully treated long COVID
symptoms with hyperbaric oxygen therapy with improvements in cognition and
cardiopulmonary function. The beneficial effects of hyperbaric oxygen shed
additional light on the pathophysiology of long COVID. As this is a single case
report, further prospective randomized control studies are needed.
© 2022. The Author(s).
DOI: 10.1186/s13256-022-03287-w
PMCID: PMC8848789
PMID: 35168680 [Indexed for MEDLINE]
Conflict of interest statement: AMB, ZW, SK, MG, and UQ work for AVIV Clinics.
ES works for AVIV Scientific LTD. SE is a co-founder and shareholder at AVIV
Scientific LTD.
