Study indicates that 13% of patients are hospitalized due to Covid-19 with severe neurological symptoms

Nearly 13% of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 during the first year of the pandemic showed severe neurological symptoms, according to a study that analyzed data from 16,225 patients in 24 countries.

The research, led by Boston University and published in Critical Care Explorations on Wednesday (4), aims to describe the prevalence, associated risk factors, and outcomes of acute neurological manifestations in hospitalized patients with Covid.

SARS-CoV-2 has been shown to cause dysfunction in many organ systems, including the nervous system, and neurological symptoms occur ‘frequently’ even in patients with mild symptoms, and in some people may persist as part of ongoing Covid-19. .

The team studied 16,225 patients from 179 hospitals in 24 countries and found that nearly 13% of those admitted in the first year of the epidemic developed severe neurological manifestations.

The data show that 1,656 (10.2%) had encephalopathy (ie, a diffuse disease of the brain that alters the functions or structure of the brain) at the time of admission. 331 (2%) had a stroke. 243 (1.5%) experienced epileptic seizures. and 73 (0.5%) had meningitis or encephalitis on admission or hospitalization.

Anna Cervantes-Arslanian, one of the study authors, explained, “Our findings show that endogenous encephalopathy is present in at least one in ten patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, while strokes, seizures, and meningitis/encephalitis are lower. common.” Boston University.

All acute neurological manifestations were associated with increased disease severity, increased need for intensive care unit interventions, longer hospital stay, use of respirators, and higher mortality.

Patients with neurological manifestations were more likely to have medical comorbidities, especially a history of stroke or neurological disorders, which would increase the risk of developing neurological manifestations.

Ana Cervantes said that given the association of neurological manifestations with worse outcomes, “more studies are urgently needed” to understand why these differences occur and how to intervene.