Clinical Spectrum and Neuroimagistic Features in Hospitalized Patients with Neurological Disorders and Concomitant Coronavirus-19 Infection

Abstract

In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, several research studies focused on understanding the damage to the respiratory and circulatory systems. However, the evidence of neurological manifestations as part of the clinical spectrum of the disease has increased. The aim of this retrospective study was to determine the potential association of neurological disorders with concomitant COVID-19 infection. We reviewed 101 patients (mean age, 70.05 years; 62.37% men) diagnosed with different neurological disorders and COVID-19 who were referred to the Department of Neurology between March 2020 and May 2021. The protocol included demographic, clinical, and neuroimagistic features, biochemical evaluation data, and prognosis. In the first group of patients with non-severe COVID-19 infection (50% lung damage). Severe COVID-19 infection was significantly correlated with an increased highly sensitive C-reactive protein level (hsCRP) (p p p p p p p p p p < 0.05) and a depressed level of consciousness (31.68%) occurred commonly. We detected the neuropsychiatric symptoms of anxiety (23.76%) and depression (14.85%). Mortality was increased in both groups but was much higher in the second group (46.15% vs. 21.33%). Neurological complications during COVID-19 infection are common in hospitalized patients, but the mechanism of these complications is not fully understood, representing a continuous challenge for neurologists.

Keywords

• COVID-19 infection
• neurological disorders
• stroke