Clinical description of the broad range of neurological presentations of COVID-19: A retrospective case series.
Rev Neurol (Paris)
; 177(3): 275-282, 2021 Mar.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1078105
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Neurological disorders associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection represent a clinical challenge because they encompass a broad neurological spectrum and may occur before the diagnosis of COVID-19.METHODS:
In this monocentric retrospective case series, medical records from patients with acute neurological disorders associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection from medicine departments of an academic center in Paris area were collected between March 15th and May 15th 2020. Diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 was ascertained through specific RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs or based on circulating serum IgG antibodies.RESULTS:
Twenty-six patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection presented with neurological disorders encephalitis (N=8), encephalopathy (N=6), cerebrovascular events (ischemic strokes N=4 and vein thromboses N=2), other central nervous system (CNS) disorders (N=4), and Guillain-Barré syndrome (N=2). The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 was delayed on average 1.6 days after the onset of neurological disorder, especially in case of encephalitis 3.9 days, encephalopathy 1.0 day, and cerebrovascular event 2.7 days.CONCLUSIONS:
Our study confirms that COVID-19 can yield a broad spectrum of neurological disorders. Because neurological presentations of COVID-19 often occur a few days before the diagnosis of SARS-COV-2 infection, clinicians should take preventive measures such as patient isolation and masks for any new admission to avoid nosocomial infections. Anti-SARS-CoV2 antibody detection in RT-PCR SARS CoV-2 negative suspected cases is useful to confirm a posteriori the diagnosis of atypical COVID-19 presentations.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Nervous System Diseases
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Rev Neurol (Paris)
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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