SARS-CoV-2: Should We Be Concerned about the Nervous System?

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be an enormous challenge to the health of the world population with tremendous consequences for the world economy. New knowledge about COVID-19 is being acquired continuously. Although the main manifestation of COVID-19 is SARS, dysfunction in other organs has been described in the last months. Neurological aspects of COVID-19 are still an underreported subject. However, a plethora of previous studies has shown that human CoVs might be neurotropic, neuroinvasive, and neurovirulent, highlighting the importance of this knowledge by physicians. Besides, several neurological manifestations had been described as complications of two other previous outbreaks of CoV diseases (SARS ad Middle East respiratory syndrome). Therefore, we should be watchful, searching for early evidence of neurological insults and promoting clinical protocols to investigate them. Our objectives are to review the potential neuropathogenesis of this new CoV and the neurological profile of COVID-19 patients described so far.