ABSTRACT
Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the delivery of healthcare to people with chronic diseases such as movement disorders. Movement disorders specialists were compelled to adapt to this unprecedented situation. The objective of this study is to assess this impact in terms of the reduction in the number of in-office consultations of a high-specialty fellowship program as a result of the pandemic restrictions, and to evaluate the overall satisfaction with the fellowship. Methods. Out-patient records of the Movement Disorders clinic from March 1st, 2020, to February 28th, 2021, were collected. Data from this period was compared to that from the previous eight years. A satisfaction survey along with a visual analog scale was applied to both the patients and the specialty fellows. Results. During the study period a total of 1,742 consultations were given, which represent a 60% drop in comparison to the previous year. Moreover, 38% of those consultations were carried out by telemedicine. Both fellows’ self-reported satisfaction and patient satisfaction with teleconsultation was high (90% and 96%, respectively. Conclusions. Despite the decrease of in-office visits, fellows reported an acceptable satisfaction regarding the learning objectives of the program and patient satisfaction was not compromised.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an infection caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is currently hitting the world in the form of a pandemic. Given that some reports suggest that this infection can also occur with neurologic manifestations, this narrative review addresses the basic and clinical aspects concerning the nervous system involvement associated with this disease. More than one third of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 can present with both central and peripheral neurological manifestations. The former includes dizziness and headache, while the latter includes taste and smell disturbances. Other reported neurological manifestations are cerebrovascular disease and epileptic seizures. According to published reports, neurological disorders are not uncommon in COVID-19 and can sometimes represent the first manifestation of the disease;therefore, neurologists should consider this diagnostic possibility in their daily practice. Since maybe not all COVID-19 neurological manifestations are due to SARS-CoV-2 direct effects, it is important to monitor the rest of the clinical parameters such as, for example, oxygen saturation. Similarly, follow-up of patients is advisable, since whether neurological complications may develop lately is thus far unknown.