Neurologic and neuroimaging findings in patients with COVID-19

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe neuroimaging findings and to report the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with neurologic manifestations. METHODS: In this retrospective multicenter study (11 hospitals), we included 64 patients with confirmed COVID-19 with neurologic manifestations who underwent a brain MRI. RESULTS: = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with COVID-19 may develop a wide range of neurologic symptoms, which can be associated with severe and fatal complications such as ischemic stroke or encephalitis. In terms of meningoencephalitis involvement, even if a direct effect of the virus cannot be excluded, the pathophysiology seems to involve an immune or inflammatory process given the presence of signs of inflammation in both CSF and neuroimaging but the lack of virus in CSF. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT04368390.