Neuro-COVID frequency and short-term outcome in the Northern Portuguese population.
Eur J Neurol
; 28(10): 3360-3368, 2021 10.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1606972
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:
COVID-19-related acute neurological phenotypes are being increasingly recognised, with neurological complications reported in more than 30% of hospitalised patients. However, multicentric studies providing a population-based perspective are lacking.METHODS:
We conducted a retrospective multicentric study at five hospitals in Northern Portugal, representing 45.1% of all hospitalised patients in this region, between 1 March and 30 June 2020.RESULTS:
Among 1261 hospitalised COVID-19 patients, 457 (36.2%) presented neurological manifestations, corresponding to a rate of 357 per 1000 in the North Region. Patients with neurologic manifestations were younger (68.0 vs. 71.2 years, p = 0.002), and the most frequent neurological symptoms were headache (13.4%), delirium (10.1%), and impairment of consciousness (9.7%). Acute well-defined central nervous system (CNS) involvement was found in 19.1% of patients, corresponding to a rate of 217 per 1000 hospitalised patients in the whole region. Assuming that all patients with severe neurological events were hospitalised, we extrapolated our results to all COVID-19 patients in the region, estimating that 116 will have a severe neurological event, corresponding to a rate of nine per 1000 (95% CI = 7-11). Overall case fatality in patients presenting neurological manifestations was 19.8%, increasing to 32.6% among those with acute well-defined CNS involvement.CONCLUSIONS:
We characterised the population of hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Northern Portugal and found that neurological symptoms are common and associated with a high degree of disability at discharge. CNS involvement with criteria for in-hospital admission was observed in a significant proportion of patients. This knowledge provides the tools for adequate health planning and for improving COVID-19 multidisciplinary patient care.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Nervous System Diseases
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Eur J Neurol
Journal subject:
Neurology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ene.14874
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS