Premium
Neurological complications of COVID‐19 in hospitalized patients: The registry of a neurology department in the first wave of the pandemic
Author(s) -
PortelaSánchez Sofía,
SánchezSoblechero Antonio,
Melgarejo Otalora Pedro José,
Rodríguez López Ángela,
Velilla Alonso Gabriel,
PalaciosMendoza Michael Armando,
Cátedra Caramé Carlos,
Amaya Pascasio Laura,
Mas Serrano Miguel,
MassotTarrús Andreu,
De La CasaFages Beatriz,
DíazOtero Fernando,
Catalina Irene,
García Domínguez Jose Manuel,
PérezSánchez Javier Ricardo,
MuñozBlanco José Luis,
Grandas Francisco
Publication year - 2021
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.14748
Subject(s) - medicine , neurology , pediatrics , encephalopathy , cohort , neurological examination , cohort study , pandemic , prospective cohort study , covid-19 , surgery , disease , psychiatry , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Abstract Objective To describe the spectrum of neurological complications observed in a hospital‐based cohort of COVID‐19 patients who required a neurological assessment. Methods We conducted an observational, monocentric, prospective study of patients with a COVID‐19 diagnosis hospitalized during the 3‐month period of the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital in Madrid (Spain). We describe the neurological diagnoses that arose after the onset of COVID‐19 symptoms. These diagnoses could be divided into different groups. Results Only 71 (2.6%) of 2750 hospitalized patients suffered at least one neurological complication (77 different neurological diagnoses in total) during the timeframe of the study. The most common diagnoses were neuromuscular disorders (33.7%), cerebrovascular diseases (CVDs) (27.3%), acute encephalopathy (19.4%), seizures (7.8%), and miscellanea (11.6%) comprising hiccups, myoclonic tremor, Horner syndrome and transverse myelitis. CVDs and encephalopathy were common in the early phase of the COVID‐19 pandemic compared to neuromuscular disorders, which usually appeared later on ( p = 0.005). Cerebrospinal fluid severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) polymerase chain reaction was negative in 15/15 samples. The mortality was higher in the CVD group (38.1% vs. 8.9%; p = 0.05). Conclusions The prevalence of neurological complications is low in patients hospitalized for COVID‐19. Different mechanisms appear to be involved in these complications, and there was no evidence of direct invasion of the nervous system in our cohort. Some of the neurological complications can be classified into early and late neurological complications of COVID‐19, as they occurred at different times following the onset of COVID‐19 symptoms.