Status epilepticus and other EEG findings in patients with COVID-19: A case series.
Seizure
; 81: 198-200, 2020 Oct.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-733627
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Neurological manifestations of COVID-19 infection include impaired consciousness, strokes, and seizures. Limited reports describing EEG abnormalities in patients with COVID-19 have been published. These articles reported nonspecific encephalopathic patterns, epileptiform discharges, and rarely seizures. Our primary aim was to assess EEG abnormalities in patients with COVID-19 and evaluate for epileptiform activity or seizures.METHODS:
We identified five critically ill adult patients with COVID-19 who underwent EEG monitoring. All patients had Ceribell™ rapid response EEG initially and two continued with conventional long-term video EEG.RESULTS:
All 5 patients had encephalopathy and 3 also had seizure-like movements, thus prompting EEG monitoring. EEGs all showed nonspecific markers of encephalopathy including diffuse slowing and generalized rhythmic delta activity. Two also had epileptiform discharges reaching 2-3 Hz at times, with one patient in nonconvulsive status epilepticus and the other developing clinical status epilepticus with myoclonic movements. EEG and clinical symptoms improved with anti-seizure medications.CONCLUSION:
Status epilepticus was present in 2 out of our cohort of 5 critically ill patients who underwent EEG monitoring. These findings highlight the importance of EEG monitoring in high-risk patients with COVID-19 and encephalopathy. EEG recordings in such patients can identify pathological patterns that will benefit from treatment with anti-seizure medications.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pneumonia, Viral
/
Seizures
/
Status Epilepticus
/
Brain Diseases
/
Coronavirus Infections
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Topics:
Long Covid
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Language:
English
Journal:
Seizure
Journal subject:
Neurology
Year:
2020
Document Type:
Article
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