Neurological manifestations in 404 COVID‑19 patients in Washington State

In this paper, recently published in the Journal of Neurology, the authors report neurological manifestations in 404 consecutive patients with COVID-19 seen in outpatient clinics and hospitalised between February 20, 2020 and May 4, 2020 at Evergreen Hospital, Kirkland, Washington, USA.

In this paper, recently published in the Journal of Neurology, the authors report neurological manifestations in 404 consecutive patients with COVID-19 seen in outpatient clinics and hospitalised between February 20, 2020 and May 4, 2020 at Evergreen Hospital, Kirkland, Washington, USA. All patients had laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Only new onset neurological manifestations were included. In particular, 208 of 404 (51.5%) patients presented with Central Nervous System (CNS) symptoms. The most prevalent CNS symptoms were altered mental status (86, 21.3%), headache (82, 20.3%), and dizziness (31, 7.7%). Of the 86 patients with altered metal status, 49 (57.0%) had pre-existing dementia. Out of 404 patients, 163 (40.3%) presented with Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) symptoms. The most prevalent PNS symptoms were myalgia (131, 32.4%) and impairment of taste (27, 6.7%) and smell (18, 4.5%). Acute neurological manifestations were seen in 99 of 404 (24.5%) COVID-19 patients with altered mental status seen in 86 (21.3%), critical illness myopathy in 8 (2.0%), stroke including one haemorrhagic stroke in 3 (0.7%), and seizures in 2 (0.5%). Six patients had multiple acute neurological manifestations.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-020-10087-z