Rehabilitation Outcomes for Patients With Severe Presentation of COVID-19: A Case Series.

To provide an outline of the timeline from acute care admission to inpatient rehabilitation facility discharge and describe the functional progress and tolerance of 2 individuals who were hospitalized but not intubated because of COVID-19. METHOD: Retrospective data were collected from the electronic medical record to describe the rehabilitation course of the first 2 consecutive patients admitted to the rehabilitation facility who were recovering from COVID-19. Both patients were octogenarian men who experienced functional decline while hospitalized for symptoms of COVID-19 and were recommended for further inpatient rehabilitation services. Progress during inpatient rehabilitation was tracked using the following outcome measures: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Quality Indicators (QI), 6-Minute Walk Test, 10-Meter Walk Test, Timed Up and Go, and Berg Balance Scale. RESULTS: Patient 1 had an 18-day acute care stay, a 13-day inpatient rehabilitation facility stay, and was discharged to home. Patient 2 had an interrupted 19-day acute care stay, a 15-day inpatient rehabilitation facility stay, and was discharged to a skilled nursing facility. Patient 1 improved 160.98 m in the 6-Minute Walk Test, 0.08 m/s in self-selected walking speed, and 85 points in the total Quality Indicators score. Patient 2 improved 115.22 m in the 6-Minute Walk Test, 0.14 m/s in self-selected walking speed, and 39 points in the total Quality Indicators score. CONCLUSION: The patients made clinically meaningful improvements in each outcome measure during their length of stay for inpatient rehabilitation. This reveals the positive rehabilitation potential of 2 older adult patients with COVID-19 and demonstrates the patients' ability to maintain inpatient rehabilitation facility level of activity. With individualized care and discharge planning, similar patients may make significant gains in function despite advanced age and comorbid conditions.

Selective long-term reorganization of the corticospinal projection from the supplementary motor cortex following recovery from lateral motor cortex injury.

Brain injury affecting the frontal motor cortex or its descending axons often causes contralateral upper extremity paresis. Although recovery is variable, the underlying mechanisms supporting favorable motor recovery remain unclear. Because the medial wall of the cerebral hemisphere is often spared following brain injury and recent functional neuroimaging studies in patients indicate a potential role for this brain region in the recovery process, we investigated the long-term effects of isolated lateral frontal motor cortical injury on the corticospinal projection (CSP) from intact, ipsilesional supplementary motor cortex (M2). After injury to the arm region of the primary motor (M1) and lateral premotor (LPMC) cortices, upper extremity recovery is accompanied by terminal axon plasticity in the contralateral CSP but not the ipsilateral CSP from M2. Furthermore, significant contralateral plasticity occurs only in lamina VII and dorsally within lamina IX. Thus, selective intraspinal sprouting transpires in regions containing interneurons, flexor-related motor neurons, and motor neurons supplying intrinsic hand muscles, which all play important roles in mediating reaching and digit movements. After recovery, subsequent injury of M2 leads to reemergence of hand motor deficits. Considering the importance of the CSP in humans and the common occurrence of lateral frontal cortex injury, these findings suggest that spared supplementary motor cortex may serve as an important therapeutic target that should be considered when designing acute and long-term postinjury patient intervention strategies aimed to enhance the motor recovery process following lateral cortical trauma.

Volumetric effects of motor cortex injury on recovery of dexterous movements.

Due to the heterogeneous nature of most brain injuries, the contributions of gray and white matter involvement to motor deficits and recovery potential remain obscure. We tested the hypothesis that duration of hand motor impairment and recovery of skilled arm and hand motor function depends on the volume of gray and white matter damage of the frontal lobe. Lesions of the primary motor cortex (M1), M1 + lateral premotor cortex (LPMC), M1 + LPMC + supplementary motor cortex (M2) or multifocal lesions affecting motor areas and medial prefrontal cortex were evaluated in rhesus monkeys. Fine hand motor function was quantitatively assessed pre-lesion and for 3-12 months post-lesion using two motor tests. White and gray matter lesion volumes were determined using histological and quantitative methods. Regression analyses showed that duration of fine hand motor impairment was strongly correlated (R(2)>0.8) with the volume of gray and white matter lesions, with white matter lesion volume being the primary predictor of impairment duration. Level of recovery of fine hand motor skill was also well correlated (R(2)>0.5) with gray and white matter lesion volume. In some monkeys post-lesion skill exceeded pre-lesion skill in one or both motor tasks demonstrating that continued post-injury task practice can improve motor performance after localized loss of frontal motor cortex. These findings will assist in interpreting acute motor deficits, predicting the time course and expected level of functional recovery, and designing therapeutic strategies in patients with localized frontal lobe injury or neurosurgical resection.