Neurological complications of SARS-CoV-2: A single-center case series authors

Abstract

The neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 are wide-ranging from simple headache to severe demyelinating brain disease. This is a review of collected case reports of patients with SARS-CoV-2 with neurological manifestations presenting to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS). Neurological manifestations associated with SARS-CoV-2 such as encephalitis, acute cerebrovascular disease, encephalitis with chorea, post-COVID myositis and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) are of great concern but are often overlooked in the presence of life-threatening abnormal vital signs in severely ill SARS-CoV-2 patients. There is a need to diagnose these manifestations at the earliest opportunity to limit long-term consequences and complications. Much research is needed to explore the role of SARS-CoV-2 in causing these neurological manifestations by isolating it either from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or the brain tissue of the deceased on autopsy. We also recommend exploring the risk factors that lead to the development of these neurological manifestations.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• Stroke
• Encephalitis
• Guillian Barre Syndrome
• Polymyositis