ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is a pandemic disease responsible for many deaths worldwide. Many neurological manifestations have been described. We report a case of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) 2 months after acute COVID19 infection, in a patient without other risk factors. CASE PRESENTATION: A 45-year-old male patient presented an 8-month history of progressive gait disorder and cognitive impairment after being hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was compatible with NPH. A spinal tap test was positive and there was progressive improvement after shunting, with complete resolution of symptoms. CONCLUSION: Other infections such as syphilis, cryptococcosis and Lyme disease have been associated with NPH. Possible mechanisms for NPH after COVID include disruption of choroid plexus cells by direct viral invasion or as a result of neuroinflammation and cytokine release and hypercoagulability leading to venous congestion and abnormalities of CSF flow. Given the significance of NPH as a cause of reversible dementia, it is important to consider the possibility of a causal association with COVID19 and understand the mechanisms behind this association.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Hydrocephalus, Normal Pressure , COVID-19/complications , Humans , Hydrocephalus, Normal Pressure/complications , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Middle Aged , SARS-CoV-2 , Spinal PunctureABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To associate the presence of language deficits with varying scores of the Fisher grading scale in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage in the period preceding the treatment of aneurysm in the anterior circulation, as well as to compare the scores of this scale, identifying the grades more associated with the decline of language. METHODS: Database analysis of 185 preoperative evaluations of language, through the Montreal Toulouse Protocol Alpha version and verbal fluency through CERAD battery, of patients from "Hospital da Restauração" with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, divided according to the Fisher grading scale (Fisher I, II, III, or IV) and compared with a control group of individuals considered normal. RESULTS: The various scores of the Fisher grading scale have different levels of language deficits, more pronounced as the amount of blood increases. Fisher III and IV scores are most associated with the decline of language. CONCLUSIONS: Our study made it possible to obtain information not yet available in the literature, by correlating the various scores of the Fisher grading scale with language yet in the period preceding treatment.