ABSTRACT
Introduction: Although neurologic involvement and neuroimaging abnormalities have been frequently identified in COVID-19 patients, the underlying factors remain unclear. In this study, we assessed the association of the neurological manifestations and neuroimaging features of hospitalized COVID-19 patients with their clinical, laboratory, and imaging characteristics. Methods: This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2020 and March 2021 at two large academic hospitals in Tehran, Iran. We used census sampling from medical records to enroll hospitalized patients with a positive COVID-19 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test who underwent brain imaging due to presenting any acute neurologic symptom during hospital stay. Results: Of the 4372 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, only 211 met the inclusion criteria (35.5% with severe infection). Central nervous system and psychiatric manifestations were significantly more common in severe cases (p ≤ 0.044). Approximately, 30% had a new abnormality on their neuroimaging, with ischemic (38/63) and hemorrhagic (16/63) insults being the most common. The most frequent reasons that provoked cranial imaging were headache (27%), altered consciousness (25.6%), focal neurologic signs (19.9%), and delirium (18%). Analysis revealed a positive correlation for age, neutrophilia, lymphopenia, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) with the emergence of neuroimaging abnormalities (p ≤ 0.018). In addition, patients with new neuroimaging abnormalities had a significantly higher lung CT score than those without any pathologic findings (11.1 ± 4.8 vs. 5.9 ± 4.8, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Approximately 30% of the study population had various acute neuroimaging findings. The lung CT score, neutrophil count, and age were strong predictors of acute neuroimaging abnormalities in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
ABSTRACT
In 2020, the SARS‐COV‐2 disease (COVID‐19) imposed huge challenges on the health, economic, and political systems, and by the end of the year, hope had been born with the release of COVID‐19 vaccines aimed at bringing the pandemic to an end. However, the COVID‐19 vaccination programs have sparked several concerns and ongoing debates over safety issues. Here, we presented three cases of patients with serious adverse events, encephalopathy, vaccine‐induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, and leukocytoclastic vasculitis, after receiving the ChAdOx1 nCoV‐19 vaccine. Therefore, it is critical to investigate and report the occurrence of adverse reactions following vaccination, particularly serious ones, as it contributes to the growing body of research and assists clinicians in better diagnosing and managing them. Despite the crucial role of COVID‐19 vaccination in controlling the pandemic, occurring of the severe adverse effects following inoculation is also inevitable and should be considered
ABSTRACT
In 2020, the SARS-COV-2 disease (COVID-19) imposed huge challenges on the health, economic, and political systems, and by the end of the year, hope had been born with the release of COVID-19 vaccines aimed at bringing the pandemic to an end. However, the COVID-19 vaccination programs have sparked several concerns and ongoing debates over safety issues. Here, we presented three cases of patients with serious adverse events, encephalopathy, vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, and leukocytoclastic vasculitis, after receiving the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine. Therefore, it is critical to investigate and report the occurrence of adverse reactions following vaccination, particularly serious ones, as it contributes to the growing body of research and assists clinicians in better diagnosing and managing them.