CSF Biomarkers in Patients With COVID-19 and Neurologic Symptoms

Abstract

Our results in patients with COVID-19 and neurologic symptoms suggest an unusual pattern of marked CSF inflammation in which soluble markers were increased but white cell response and other immunologic features typical of CNS viral infections were absent. While our initial hypothesis centered on CNS SARS-CoV-2 invasion, we could not convincingly detect SARS-CoV-2 as the underlying driver of CNS inflammation. These features distinguish COVID-19 CSF from other viral CNS infections and raise fundamental questions about the CNS pathobiology of SARS-CoV-2 infection.