Fatal Case of COVID-19 Pneumonia Associated with Acute Myelopathy

Abstract

In December 2019, a novel coronavirus outbreak with multiple system involvement started initially in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection is a systemic disorder typically presenting with fever, fatigue, and upper and lower respiratory symptoms, although neurological manifestations are increasingly reported, but pathological mechanisms have yet to be established. The symptoms of infection with COVID-19 are dependent on the patient’s age and underlying medical illness, and on the condition of the immune system. Neurotropic and neuroinvasive capabilities of coronaviruses have been described in humans. We herein report a patient infected with COVID-19 who developed pneumonia associated with acute progressive myelopathy. Neurological examination revealed progressive flaccid areflexic paralysis of lower limbs over 3 days with retention of urine and sensory level at 10th spinal thoracic segment (T10). The patient had a positive nasopharyngeal swab for COVID-19 at the onset of the neurological symptoms. This case of acute progressive myelopathy adds further evidence of the complications of severe COVID-19 infection, and we are dealing with a virus of unpredictable behavior. Since this virus neurotropism is not clear yet, further investigations should be conducted on the mechanism of possible neurological infection in patients with COVID-19.

Keywords

• covid-19
• myelitis
• neurological manifestations
• sars virus