SARS-CoV-2 vaccination predicts COVID-19 progression and outcomes in hospitalized patients

BackgroundSARS-CoV-2 vaccination might impact on clinical progression of cases with breakthrough COVID-19 disease. Objectiveto evaluate the impact of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination on disease progression in COVID-19 hospitalized patient Methods and FindingsTwo-hundred eighty-four consecutive COVID-19 hospitalized patients, including 50 vaccinated cases entered the study. Compared to unvaccinated cases, vaccinated patients were older, exhibited more comorbidities and did not differ for COVID-19 severity at admission. During hospitalisation, unvaccinated patients showed worse disease progression, including higher need of oxygen and higher risk of death compared to vaccinated patients (OR 3.3; 1.05-10.7 95% CI in the whole cohort and OR 54.8; 3.5-852 in the ventilated cases). DiscussionThese findings argue for an important reduction in severity among vaccine breakthrough infection compared to unvaccinated cases in COVID-19 disease.

Clinical Outcome of Neurological patients with COVID-19: the impact of Healthcare organization improvement between waves.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the differences of clinical presentations and the impact of healthcare organization on outcomes of neurological COVID-19 patients admitted during the first and second pandemic waves. MethodsIn this single center cohort study, we included all patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection admitted to a Neuro-COVID Unit. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were compared between patients admitted during the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic. Results223 patients were included, of whom 112 and 111 hospitalized during the first and second pandemic waves, respectively. Patients admitted during the second wave were younger and exhibited pulmonary COVID-19 severity, resulting in less oxygen support (n=41, 36.9% vs n=79, 70.5%, p<0.001) and lower mortality rates (14.4% vs 31.3%, p=0.004). The different healthcare strategies and early steroid treatment emerged as significant predictors of mortality independently from age, premorbid conditions and COVID-19 severity in cox regression analyses. ConclusionsDifferences in healthcare strategies during the second phase of COVID-19 pandemic probably explain the differences in clinical outcomes independently of disease severity, underlying the importance of standardized early management of neurological patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

COVID-19 severity impacts on long-term neurological manifestation after hospitalisation

BackgroundClinical investigations have argued for long-term neurological manifestations in both hospitalized and non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. It is unclear whether long-term neurological symptoms and features depend on COVID-19 severity. Methodsfrom a sample of 208 consecutive non-neurological patients hospitalized for COVID-19 disease, 165 survivors were re-assessed at 6 months according to a structured standardized clinical protocol. Prevalence and predictors of long-term neurological manifestations were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analyses. ResultsAt 6-month follow-up after hospitalisation due to COVID-19 disease, patients displayed a wide array of symptoms; fatigue (34%), memory/attention (31%), and sleep disorders (30%) were the most frequent. At neurological examination, 40% of patients exhibited neurological abnormalities, such as hyposmia (18.0%), cognitive deficits (17.5%), postural tremor (13.8%) and subtle motor/sensory deficits (7.6%). Older age, premorbid comorbidities and severity of COVID-19 were independent predictors of neurological manifestations in logistic regression analyses. Conclusionspremorbid vulnerability and severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection impact on prevalence and severity of long-term neurological manifestations.

The clinical spectrum of encephalitis in COVID-19 disease: the ENCOVID multicentre study

ImportanceSeveral preclinical and clinical investigations have argued for nervous system involvement in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some sparse case reports have described various forms of encephalitis in COVID-19 disease, but very few data have focused on clinical presentations, clinical course, response to treatment and outcomes yet. Objectiveto describe the clinical phenotype, laboratory and neuroimaging findings of encephalitis associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, their relationship with respiratory function and inflammatory parameters and their clinical course and response to treatment. DesignThe ENCOVID multicentre study was carried out in 13 centres in northern Italy between February 20th and May 31st, 2020. Only patients with altered mental status and at least two supportive criteria for encephalitis with full infectious screening, CSF, EEG, MRI data and a confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection were included. Clinical presentation and laboratory markers, severity of COVID-19 disease, response to treatment and outcomes were recorded. ResultsOut of 45 cases screened, twenty-five cases of encephalitis positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection with full available data were included. The most common symptoms at onset were delirium (68%), aphasia/dysarthria (24%) and seizures (24%). CSF showed hyperproteinorrachia and/or pleocytosis in 68% of cases whereas SARS-CoV-2 RNA by RT-PCR resulted negative. Based on MRI, cases were classified as ADEM (n=3), limbic encephalitis (LE, n=2), encephalitis with normal imaging (n=13) and encephalitis with MRI alterations (n=7). ADEM and LE cases showed a delayed onset compared to the other encephalitis (p=0.001) and were associated with previous more severe COVID-19 respiratory involvement. Patients with MRI alterations exhibited worse response to treatment and final outcomes compared to other encephalitis. Conclusions and relevanceWe found a wide clinical spectrum of encephalitis associated with COVID19 infection, underlying different pathophysiological mechanisms. Response to treatment and final outcome strongly depended on specific CNS-manifestations. Questionwhat are the phenotypes of encephalitis associated to SARS-CoV-2 infection? Findings25 cases of encephalitis in SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in a prospective observational multi-centre study. Encephalitis cases in COVID-19 exhibited a wide heterogeneity in terms of clinical features, CSF, MRI findings, response to treatment and outcomes with 13 cases with normal MRI, 7 with heterogeneous MRI alterations and rarer ADEM/limbic encephalitis cases. Meaningheterogeneity of presentation, response to treatment and outcomes of encephalitis of COVID-19 underlines different pathophysiological mechanisms

COVID-19 impact on consecutive neurological patients admitted to the emergency department

ObjectiveAim of this study was to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on clinical and laboratory findings and outcome of neurological patients consecutively admitted to the emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hub center. MethodsAll adult patients consecutively admitted to the ED for neurological manifestations from February 20th through April 30th 2020 at Spedali Civili of Brescia entered the study. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were extracted from medical records and compared between patients with and without COVID-19. ResultsOut of 505 consecutively patients evaluated at ED with neurological symptoms, 147 (29.1%) tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. These patients displayed at triage higher values of CRP, AST, ALT, and fibrinogen but not lymphopenia (p<0.05). They were older (73.1 {+/-} 12.4 vs 65.1 {+/-} 18.9 years, p=0.001) had higher frequency of stroke (34.7% vs 29.3%), encephalitis/meningitis (9.5% vs 1.9%) and delirium (16.3% vs 5.0%). Compared to patients without COVID, they were more frequently hospitalized (91.2% vs 69.3%, p<0.0001) and showed higher mortality rates (29.7% vs 1.8%, p<0.0.001) and discharge disability, independently from age. ConclusionsCOVID-19 impacts on clinical presentation of neurological disorders, with higher frequency of stroke, encephalitis and delirium, and was strongly associated with increased hospitalisation, mortality and disability.

Clinical features and outcomes of inpatients with neurological disease and COVID-19

ObjectiveTo report the clinical and laboratory characteristics, as well as treatment and clinical outcomes of patients admitted for neurological diseases with COVID-19 in a Neuro-COVID unit compared to patients without COVID-19. MethodsIn this retrospective, single centre cohort study, we included all adult inpatients with confirmed COVID-19, who had been discharged or died by April 5, 2020. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and laboratory data were extracted from medical records. Results173 patients were included in this study, of whom 56 resulted positive for COVID-19 and 117 resulted negative for COVID-19. Patients with COVID-19 were older, had a different distribution regarding admission diagnoses, including cerebrovascular disorders, and had a higher quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score on admission (all p<0.05). In-hospital mortality rates and incident delirium were significantly higher in the COVID-19 group (all p<0.05). COVID-19 and non-COVID patients with stroke had similar baseline characteristics but patients with COVID-19 had higher modified Rankin scale scores at discharge (p<0.0001), with a significantly lower number of patients with a good outcome (p<0.0001). Multivariable regressions showed increasing odds of in-hospital death associated with higher qSOFA scores (odds ratio 4.47, 95% CI 1.21-16.5; p=0.025), lower platelet count (0.98, 0.97-0.99; p=0.005) and higher lactate dehydrogenase (1.01, 1.00-1.03; p=0.009) on admission. ConclusionsCOVID-19 patients admitted with neurological disease, including stroke, have a significantly higher in-hospital mortality, incident delirium and higher disability than patients without COVID-19.

Steroid-responsive severe encephalopathy in SARS-CoV-2 infection

Covid-19 infection has the potential for targeting the central nervous system and several neurological symptoms have been described in patients with severe respiratory distress. Here we described the case of a 60-year old subject with SARS-CoV-2 infection but only mild respiratory abnormalities who developed an akinetic mutism due to encephalitis. MRI was negative whereas EEG showed generalized theta slowing. CSF analyses during the acute stage were negative for SARS-CoV-2, positive for pleocytosis and hyperproteinorrachia, and showed increased IL-8 and TNF- concentrations while other infectious or autoimmune disorders were excluded. A progressive clinical improvement along with a reduction of CSF parameters was observed after high-dose steroid treatment, thus arguing for an inflammatory-mediated brain involvement related to Covid-19.