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Assessment of neurological manifestations in hospitalized patients with COVID‐19
Author(s) -
Luigetti M.,
Iorio R.,
Bentivoglio A. R.,
Tricoli L.,
Riso V.,
Marotta J.,
Piano C.,
Primiano G.,
Zileri Del Verme L.,
Lo Monaco M. R.,
Calabresi P.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.14444
Subject(s) - medicine , hyposmia , pediatrics , encephalopathy , respiratory system , coronavirus , population , anosmia , covid-19 , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , environmental health
Background and purpose The objective of this study was to assess the neurological manifestations in a series of consecutive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2)‐positive patients, comparing their frequency with a population hospitalized in the same period for flu/respiratory symptoms, finally not related to SARS‐CoV‐2. Methods Patients with flu/respiratory symptoms admitted to Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli hospital from 14 March 2020 to 20 April 2020 were retrospectively enrolled. The frequency of neurological manifestations of patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection was compared with a control group. Results In all, 213 patients were found to be positive for SARS‐CoV‐2, after reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction on nasal or throat swabs, whilst 218 patients were found to be negative and were used as a control group. Regarding central nervous system manifestations, in SARS‐CoV‐2‐positive patients a higher frequency of headache, hyposmia and encephalopathy always related to systemic conditions (fever or hypoxia) was observed. Furthermore, muscular involvement was more frequent in SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Conclusions Patients with COVID‐19 commonly have neurological manifestations but only hyposmia and muscle involvement seem more frequent compared with other flu diseases.