Neurophysiological correlates of delayed recovery of consciousness in a critically ill patient with COVID-19 with repeated cardiac arrest

Critically ill patients with respiratory failure on mechanical ventilation may experience prolonged unconsciousness lasting days to weeks after sedation withdrawal, yet can still achieve functional neurological recovery. This prolonged recovery cannot be explained solely by the kinetics of drug elimination, even when accounting for delays caused by concurrent metabolic disturbances. In a series of more than 1200 critically ill patients with COVID-19, the time to recovery of consciousness was correlated with the degree of hypoxemia, even among patients without evidence of structural brain injury.