scholarly journals Neurological Presentations of COVID-19: Characteristic Features in a Case Series of Hospitalized Patients from Abu Dhabi, UAE

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Asma Deeb ◽  
Palat Chirakkara Kumar ◽  
Nida Sakrani ◽  
Ravi Kumar Trehan ◽  
Vijay Ram Papinenei

Background. COVID-19 patients can present with neurological manifestations in the form of headache, dizziness, hyposmia, myalgia, peripheral neuropathy, acute cerebrovascular disease, and encephalopathy. Neurological involvement could be due to virus-induced brain hypoxia, brain infection, or immune reaction. We aim to describe the neurological presentation of COVID-19 patients and study their neuroimaging findings and disease outcome. Method. The study is a single-centre, retrospective, observational study in Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC), Abu Dhabi, UAE. Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between March and May 2020 who presented with neuropathological features with or without respiratory manifestations of COVID-19 were enrolled. Electronic records were studied for age, sex, duration of hospitalization, detailed neurological presentation, history or documented concomitant fever and respiratory features of COVID-19, inflammatory markers, neuroimaging, progress, and disease outcome. Results. Thirty-three patients of 10 nationalities presented with neurological manifestations. Mean (range) age was 51.4 (21–86) years. Twenty-four had comorbidities, and 18 had no prior or concomitant respiratory symptoms. Ten patients presented with encephalopathy and exhibited altered behavior/sensorium: 7 presented with myositis, 8 with stroke, and 4 with seizures, and 4 had peripheral and cranial nerve involvement. The mean (average) duration of hospital stay was 11.4 days (1-38) with the longest observed in stroke patients. Fifteen patients (45%) died and 3 (9%) had residual weakness. Serum ferritin, CRP, and procalcitonin were higher in the severe disease group and correlated with risk of death. Twelve of 22 brain images showed abnormalities including haemorrhage, infarcts, small vessel ischemia, and oedema. Risk of death was higher in older age but did not differ based on the underlying neuropathology. Conclusion. COVID-19 patients who present with neurological involvement have a higher risk of mortality which is aggravated by older age and higher inflammatory markers. The type of neurological pathology does not seem to influence the risk of mortality.

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011356
Author(s):  
Emad Nader Eskandar ◽  
David J Altschul ◽  
Rafael de La Garza Ramos ◽  
Phillip Cezayirli ◽  
Santiago R Unda ◽  
...  

Objective:The SARS-Cov2 virus is protean in its manifestations, affecting nearly every organ system. However, nervous system involvement and its impact on disease outcome are poorly characterized. The objective of the study is to determine if neurological syndromes are associated with increased risk of inpatient mortality.Methods:581 hospitalized patients with confirmed SARS-Cov2 infection, neurological involvement and brain-imaging were compared to hospitalized non-neurological COVID-19 patients. Four patterns of neurological manifestations were identified –acute stroke, new or recrudescent seizures, altered mentation with normal imaging, and neuro-COVID-19 complex. Factors present on admission were analyzed as potential predictors of in-hospital mortality, including sociodemographic variables, pre-existing comorbidities, vital-signs, laboratory values, and pattern of neurological manifestations. Significant predictors were incorporated into a disease-severity score. Patients with neurological manifestations were matched with patients of the same age and disease severity to assess the risk of death.Results:4711 patients with confirmed SARS-Cov2 infection were admitted to one medical system in New York City during a 6-week period. Of these, 581 (12%) had neurological issues of sufficient concern to warrant neuro-imaging. These patients were compared to 1743 non-neurological COVID-19 patients matched for age and disease-severity admitted during the same period. Patients with altered mentation (n=258, p =0.04, OR 1.39, CI 1.04 – 1.86) or radiologically confirmed stroke (n=55, p = 0.001, OR 3.1, CI 1.65-5.92) had a higher risk of mortality than age and severity-matched controls.Conclusions:The incidence of altered mentation or stroke on admission predicts a modest but significantly higher risk of in-hospital mortality independent of disease severity. While other biomarker factors also predict mortality, measures to identify and treat such patients may be important in reducing overall mortality of COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Asma Deeb ◽  
Khulood Khawaja ◽  
Nida Sakrani ◽  
Abdulla AlAkhras ◽  
Ahmed Al Mesabi ◽  
...  

Background. The UAE reported its first cluster of COVID 2019 in a group of returned travellers from Wuhan in January 2020. Various comorbidities are associated with worse disease prognosis. Understanding the impact of ethnicity on the disease outcome is an important public health issue but data from our region is lacking. Aim. We aim to identify comorbidities among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 that are associated with inhospital death. Also, to assess if ethnicity is correlated with increased risk of death. Patients and Method. The study is a single-centre, observational study in Shaikh Shakhbout Medical City, Abu Dhabi. Patients admitted with COVID-19, between 1st of March and the end of May, were enrolled. Records were studied for demography, comorbidity, and ethnicity. Ethnicity was divided into Arabs (Gulf, North Africa, and the Levant), South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Afghanistan), Africans, the Philippines, and others. The study was approved by the Department of Health of Abu Dhabi. Results. 1075 patients (972 males) were enrolled. There were 24 nationalities under 5 ethnicity groups. Mean (average) age was 51 years (20–81). 101 (9.4%) died with deceased patients being significantly older. Death risk was not significantly influenced by sex. Duration of hospitalization among survivors was 6.2 days (0.2–40.4) with older patients and men staying longer ( P < 0.01 ). Comorbidities of diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, chronic renal disease, liver disease, and malignancy were associated with higher risk of mortality univariate, but only liver disease reached statistical significance after adjustment for age. The highest percentage of death was seen in Arab Levant (21.2) followed by the Asian Afghan (18.8); however, differences among ethnicities did not reach statistical significance ( P = 0.086 ). Conclusion. COVID-19 outcome was worse in older people and those with comorbidities. Men and older patients required longer hospitalization. Ethnicity is not seen to impact the risk of mortality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-69
Author(s):  
Navgeet Mathur ◽  
Medha Mathur

In presence of abnormal neurological features infective, immunological and metabolic etiologies are also needed to be kept as possibility. Dengue fever may present with variety of neurological manifestations. This case series includes rare neurological presentation of dengue fever including first ever reported case of dengue fever induced bilateral abducens nerve palsy with another case of dengue cerebellitis. This case series along with previous studies suggest that imaging may be normal in these cases. This case series also highlighted the possible immunological etio-pathogenesis and role of steroids as treatment modality.


2020 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2020-137533
Author(s):  
Nandita Prabhat ◽  
Sucharita Ray ◽  
Kamalesh Chakravarty ◽  
Heena Kathuria ◽  
Sukriya Saravana ◽  
...  

BackgroundIn this mini review, we discuss some of the atypical neurological manifestations of dengue virus and attempt to bring them to attention to highlight the neurotropic property of the dengue virus.MethodsCases were chosen from retrospective hospital and outpatient records of all patients seropositive for dengue who attended the neurology referral. Seven patients have been chosen as illustrative examples of dengue-associated neurological involvement. We discuss the various central and peripheral nervous system involvement of patients and discuss the relevant findings in them.ConclusionThrough this case series, we wish to highlight that the dengue virus can affect the nervous system at various targets, using multiple mechanisms of pathogenesis to generate a plethora of presentations. Hence, it is vital to be aware of its presentations to be able to diagnose dengue and treat it accordingly.


2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 164-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Rabbitt ◽  
Mary Lunn ◽  
Danny Wong

There is new empirical evidence that the effects of impending death on cognition have been miscalculated because of neglect of the incidence of dropout and of practice gains during longitudinal studies. When these are taken into consideration, amounts and rates of cognitive declines preceding death and dropout are seen to be almost identical, and participants aged 49 to 93 years who neither dropout nor die show little or no decline during a 20-year longitudinal study. Practice effects are theoretically informative. Positive gains are greater for young and more intelligent participants and at all levels of intelligence and durations of practice; declines in scores of 10% or more between successive quadrennial test sessions are risk factors for mortality. Higher baseline intelligence test scores are also associated with reduced risk of mortality, even when demographics and socioeconomic advantage have been taken into consideration.


2020 ◽  
pp. 000313482096006
Author(s):  
William Q. Duong ◽  
Areg Grigorian ◽  
Cyrus Farzaneh ◽  
Jeffry Nahmias ◽  
Theresa Chin ◽  
...  

Objectives Disparities in outcomes among trauma patients have been shown to be associated with race and sex. The purpose of this study was to analyze racial and sex mortality disparities in different regions of the United States, hypothesizing that the risk of mortality among black and Asian trauma patients, compared to white trauma patients, will be similar within all regions in the United States. Methods The Trauma Quality Improvement Program (2010-2016) was queried for adult trauma patients, separating by U.S. Census regions. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed for each region, controlling for known predictors of morbidity and mortality in trauma. Results Most trauma patients were treated in the South (n = 522 388, 40.7%). After risk adjustment, black trauma patients had a higher associated risk of death in all regions, except the Northeast, compared to white trauma patients. The highest associated risk of death for blacks (vs. whites) was in the Midwest (odds ratio [OR] 1.30, P < .001). Asian trauma patients only had a higher associated risk of death in the West (OR 1.39, P < .001). Male trauma patients, compared to women, had an increased associated risk of mortality in all four regions. Discussion This study found major differences in outcomes among different races within different regions of the United States. There was also both an increased rate and associated risk of mortality for male patients in all regions. Future prospective studies are needed to identify what regional differences in trauma systems including population density, transport times, hospital access, and other trauma resources explain these findings.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. e044384
Author(s):  
Guduru Gopal Rao ◽  
Alexander Allen ◽  
Padmasayee Papineni ◽  
Liyang Wang ◽  
Charlotte Anderson ◽  
...  

ObjectiveThe aim of this paper is to describe evolution, epidemiology and clinical outcomes of COVID-19 in subjects tested at or admitted to hospitals in North West London.DesignObservational cohort study.SettingLondon North West Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH).ParticipantsPatients tested and/or admitted for COVID-19 at LNWH during March and April 2020Main outcome measuresDescriptive and analytical epidemiology of demographic and clinical outcomes (intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation and mortality) of those who tested positive for COVID-19.ResultsThe outbreak began in the first week of March 2020 and reached a peak by the end of March and first week of April. In the study period, 6183 tests were performed in on 4981 people. Of the 2086 laboratory confirmed COVID-19 cases, 1901 were admitted to hospital. Older age group, men and those of black or Asian minority ethnic (BAME) group were predominantly affected (p<0.05). These groups also had more severe infection resulting in ICU admission and need for mechanical ventilation (p<0.05). However, in a multivariate analysis, only increasing age was independently associated with increased risk of death (p<0.05). Mortality rate was 26.9% in hospitalised patients.ConclusionThe findings confirm that men, BAME and older population were most commonly and severely affected groups. Only older age was independently associated with mortality.


Author(s):  
Biyan Nathanael Harapan ◽  
Hyeon Joo Yoo

AbstractSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus, is responsible for the outbreak of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and was first identified in Wuhan, China in December 2019. It is evident that the COVID-19 pandemic has become a challenging world issue. Although most COVID-19 patients primarily develop respiratory symptoms, an increasing number of neurological symptoms and manifestations associated with COVID-19 have been observed. In this narrative review, we elaborate on proposed neurotropic mechanisms and various neurological symptoms, manifestations, and complications of COVID-19 reported in the present literature. For this purpose, a review of all current published literature (studies, case reports, case series, reviews, editorials, and other articles) was conducted and neurological sequelae of COVID-19 were summarized. Essential and common neurological symptoms including gustatory and olfactory dysfunctions, myalgia, headache, altered mental status, confusion, delirium, and dizziness are presented separately in sections. Moreover, neurological manifestations and complications that are of great concern such as stroke, cerebral (sinus) venous thrombosis, seizures, meningoencephalitis, Guillain–Barré syndrome, Miller Fisher syndrome, acute myelitis, and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) are also addressed systematically. Future studies that examine the impact of neurological symptoms and manifestations on the course of the disease are needed to further clarify and assess the link between neurological complications and the clinical outcome of patients with COVID-19. To limit long-term consequences, it is crucial that healthcare professionals can early detect possible neurological symptoms and are well versed in the increasingly common neurological manifestations and complications of COVID-19.


Author(s):  
Nevine El Nahas ◽  
Tamer Roushdy ◽  
Eman Hamid ◽  
Sherien Farag ◽  
Hossam Shokri ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel virus that has been reported to have various neurological manifestations. Cerebrovascular disorders have been encountered as a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presentation in our center during the pandemic. Case presentation We are presenting 10 cases with cerebrovascular manifestations after having COVID-19 few days prior to stroke. Conclusion Cerebrovascular manifestations can occur in association with COVID-19 and may have significant implications on prognosis and management.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1357.1-1357
Author(s):  
S. M. Lao ◽  
J. Patel

Background:Reactive arthritis is a form of spondyloarthritis with aseptic joint involvement occurring after a gastrointestinal or urogenital infection. Most commonly associated with Chlamydia trachomatis, Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, and Yersinia. Syphilis is an infection caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum and is not usually associated with reactive arthritis. Syphilis is a great imitator of other diseases due to its broad presentation including painless chancre, constitutional symptoms, adenopathy, rash, synovitis, neurological and ocular findings.Objectives:To discuss a patient who presented with symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but was later diagnosed with syphilis.Methods:31 year old male, former tobacco smoker, referred to Rheumatology for sudden onset joint pains, elevated anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP), and elevated inflammatory markers. He reported pain in bilateral wrists, fingers, and right elbow for 6 weeks. Associated with 45 minutes of morning stiffness and new onset lower back pain without stiffness. He denied trauma, fever, chills, skin rash, dysuria, or diarrhea. Initiated trial naproxen 500mg twice a day only to have minimal relief. Patient is sexually active with men and was recently diagnosed with oropharyngeal gonorrhea treated with azithromycin 4 months prior. All other STI screening including syphilis, gonorrhea, HIV were negative at that time. Patient is on emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis. He denied family history of immune mediated conditions. Exam was significant for mild synovitis of both wrists and bilateral 2nd metacarpophalangeal joints. Initial labs revealed weakly positive anti-CCP 21 (normal <20), sedimentation rate 64 (normal ESR 0-15 mm/hr), C-reactive protein 24 (normal CRP 0-10 mg/L), and negative RF, ANA, HLA B27. During a short trial of prednisone taper, there was temporary improvement in symptoms, however synovitis recurred upon completion. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) 200mg twice a day was started for possible RA and he was referred to Ophthalmology for baseline retinopathy screening. Incidentally, he developed right sided blurry vision 2 weeks after initiation of HCQ. He was diagnosed with panuveitis of the right eye with inflammation of the optic nerve head and prednisone 40mg daily was initiated for presumed ocular manifestation of RA. However, further workup of panuveitis revealed reactive Treponema pallidum antibody and RPR quantity 1:32. Prednisone was immediately discontinued and he was referred to the emergency department for possible neurosyphilis.Results:Lumbar puncture showed cerebral spinal fluid with 260 red blood cells, 1 white blood cell, 27mg/dL protein, 60mg/dL glucose, non reactive VDRL, reactive pallidum IgG antibody, and negative cultures. Meningitis and encephalitis panels were negative. Patient completed a 14 day course of IV penicillin G with complete remission of joint pain, visual symptoms, and normalization of anti-CCP, ESR, and CRP.Conclusion:This case highlights how syphilis may mimic signs and symptoms of RA including symmetrical small joint pain, morning stiffness, elevated inflammatory markers, and positive anti-CCP. Anti-CCP is >96% specific for RA but was a false positive in this patient. There have only been few reported cases noting positive anti-CCP with reactive arthritis. This is a rare case of reactive arthritis secondary to syphilis with resolution of symptoms upon treating the syphilis.References:[1]Carter JD. Treating reactive arthritis: insights for the clinician. Ther Adv Musculoskelet Dis. 2010 Feb;2(1):45-54.[2]Cohen SE, Klausner JD, Engelman J, Philip S. Syphilis in the modern era: an update for physicians. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2013 Dec;27(4):705-22.[3]Singh Sangha M, Wright ML, Ciurtin C. Strongly positive anti-CCP antibodies in patients with sacroiliitis or reactive arthritis post-E. coli infection: A mini case-series based review. Int J Rheum Dis. 2018 Jan;21(1):315-321.Disclosure of Interests:None declared.


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