ABSTRACT
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought about an unprecedented time. Multiple systemic complications have been recognized with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as it can do much more than affect the respiratory system. One of the intriguing neurological complications is Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). We reviewed three cases in which patients presented with GBS following COVID-19 infection. All three cases had positive lumbar puncture results with albumino-cytological dissociation. Each patient was treated with plasmapheresis and improved clinically. Although an exact causal relationship between COVID-19 and GBS cannot be drawn from this case series alone, it signifies the importance of this complication. It warrants further studies to establish the causal relationship. One should have a high suspicion for acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) in patients presenting with acute onset of ascending weakness following COVID-19 infection.
ABSTRACT
Sino-nasal mucormycosis was predominant and affected 24 (61%) patients, 7 (18%) patients had rhino-cerebral Mucormycosis, and 5 (13%) patient had additional peripheral nervous system involvement. B Objective: b Mucormycosis is not a new diagnosis but it has high incidence among COVID-19 patients in India during second wave of pandemic. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Critical Care Medicine is the property of Lippincott Williams & Wilkins and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: To date, only corticosteroids and interleukin-6 (IL-6) inhibitors have been shown to reduce mortality of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. In this literature review, we aimed to summarize infection risk of IL inhibitors, with or without the use of corticosteroids, used to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the following evidence-based medicine reviews: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews; Embase; Ovid Medline; and Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process, In-Data-Review & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Daily and Versions 1946 to April 28, 2021. All relevant articles were identified using the search terms COVID-19 or SARS-coronavirus-2, infections, interleukins, inpatients, adults, and i ncidence. RESULTS: We identified 36 studies of which 2 were meta-analyses, 5 were randomized controlled trials, 9 were prospective studies, and 20 were retrospective studies. When anakinra was compared with control, 2 studies reported an increased risk of infection, and 3 studies reported a similar or decreased incidence of infection. Canakinumab had a lower associated incidence of infection compared with placebo in one study. When sarilumab was compared with placebo, one study reported an increased risk of infection. Nine studies comparing tocilizumab with placebo reported decreased or no difference in infection risk (odds ratio [OR] for the studies ranged from 0.39-1.21). Fourteen studies comparing tocilizumab with placebo reported an increased risk of infection, ranging from 9.1% to 63.0% (OR for the studies ranged from 1.85-5.04). Infection most commonly presented as bacteremia. Of the 6 studies comparing tocilizumab and corticosteroid use with placebo, 4 reported a nonsignificant increase toward corticosteroids being associated with bacterial infections (OR ranged from 2.76-3.8), and 2 studies reported no increased association with a higher infection risk. CONCLUSIONS: Our literature review showed mixed results with variable significance for the association of IL-6 inhibitors with risk of infections in patients with COVID-19.