Hearing Loss and Sixth Cranial Nerve Paresis after COVID-19.

An 80-year-old patient was admitted to the internal medicine department for binocular diplopia and hearing loss with sudden onset. The patient had presented with SARS-CoV-2 infection 3 weeks previously and had been admitted to hospital. Complete work-up including autoimmunity, serum and LCR viral serology and MRI did not allow a diagnosis to be established. The hypothesis of a microvascular origin or the previous SARS-CoV-2 infection was considered. The latter was retained in light of the temporal relationship, the absence of other pathologies after exhaustive work-up, and the clinical evolution. LEARNING POINTS: A temporal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms in the absence of other pathologies is important for diagnosis.Mid or long-term follow-up is necessary in patients with unexplained symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection.

SARS-CoV-2 infection and psychiatric manifestations in a previous healthy patient.

BACKGROUND: The clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection was initially dominated by respiratory symptoms. However, the clinical spectrum is wide and neuropsychiatric syndromes are also a source of medical concern. Our aims are to present an atypical clinical presentation of SARS-CoV-2 infection characterized by auditory hallucinations and unusual behavior and to emphasize the diversity of clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection. CASE PRESENTATION: A 33-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency department (ED) with a one-day history of auditory hallucinations, unusual behavior, changes in her sleeping habits and incoherent speech. No other symptoms were reported. Blood examinations confirmed high elevated white cell count and C-reactive protein. The head CT scan was normal but the chest scan showed right ground-glass opacities in the lower zones. The oropharyngeal swab was positive for SARS-CoV-2. Based on these results, the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection was retained. The patient received no specific treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection and only needed oxygen therapy support for 7 days. The additional dose of Olanzapine 10 mg daily was initially prescribed but the patient was back to her usual self on day 14 of hospital admission leading to its discontinuation. This clinical course was consistent with a first episode of psychosis triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONCLUSION: Neuroinflammation owing to SARS-CoV-2 infection could be responsible for a wide and unknown spectrum of neuropsychiatric manifestations. During this pandemic, special attention should be given to patients with no previous history of psychiatric disorders presenting to ED with neuropsychiatric syndromes of unknown etiology.