HP37: Critical illness polyneuropathy in COVID-19 patients: A case-control study

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The coronavirus SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) could cause damage to neural tissue. This injury is responsible for neuromuscular disturbance after the onset of respiratory symptoms in these patients. Objective: is to analyze the characteristics of all patients diagnosed with critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) reported from March 2020 to March 2021 in the Clinical Neurophysiology Department from La Princesa University Hospital. Methods: Patients were classified into two groups 17 patients admitted to the hospital with confirmed COVID-19 (Cases Group, CaG) and 12 patients without COVID-19 infection (Control Group, CoG). We performed both electroneurography and electromyography. Results: The distribution of the subtypes of the CIP was as follows axonal motor polyneuropathy (24% in CaG vs 25% in CoG), axonal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (35% in CaG vs 58% in CoG), and mixed sensorimotor polyneuropathy (41% in CaG vs 16% in CoG). Needle EMG showed spontaneous activity in 100% in CaG vs 75% in CoG. The days of hospitalisation were 64.8 ± 7.9 in the CaG and 54.5 ± 9.9 in the CoG. Favourable evolution was observed in the 35% in CaG vs 42% in CoG, and unfavourable evolution was observed in the 41% in CaG vs 33% in CoG. Conclusion: We highlighted the nerves damaged in patients infected by COVID-19 and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Viral neuropathy is thought to be primarily axonal;however, we observe a high prevalence of demyelinating injuries in patients affected with this infection. Considering these results, we focus on the importance of early neurorehabilitation to improve nerve function. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Clinical Neurophysiology is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)