Neurological Manifestations

Patients with COVID-19 experienced changes in gray matter volume, especially those with fever and those who received oxygen therapy, according to findings from a multivariate, observational study published in Neurobiology of Stress.

Neurological manifestations occurred frequently in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and correlated with increased in-hospital mortality, according to findings from a multicohort study published in JAMA Network Open.

This week, the question of whether we’ll need COVID-19 booster shots; the ACIP recommends resuming use of the J&J COVID-19 vaccine; humans in the UK transmitted SARS-CoV-2 to their cats; an NBA study shows that persistent positive cases do not transmit COVID-19 after recovery; and neurological symptoms with COVID-19 serve as an ‘important predictor’ of poor outcomes.

Viral RNA load was low and did not appear associated with other pathological features among a small cohort of fatal COVID-19 cases, according to study results presented during the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.

Patients with COVID-19 and certain neurological problems had longer hospital lengths of stay and higher in-hospital mortality, among other adverse outcomes, according to findings from a prospective cohort study of 211 hospitalized patients.

In this video perspective, Igor J. Koralnik, MD, FAAN, FANA, reviews his talk on COVID-19 immunology and COVID-19 vaccines from the COVID-19 plenary session at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, which is being held virtually.

Preliminary research suggested half of children at a London hospital who developed a multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 experienced neurological symptoms, such as headache, encephalopathy and hallucinations.

Postmortem testing in a convenience sample of patients who died of COVID-19 demonstrated multifocal microvascular injury in the brain and olfactory bulbs without evidence of viral infection.

Neurological syndromes on admission in patients with COVID-19, including altered mentation and stroke, predicted greater mortality risk in a large, single-center study in New York City, according to findings published in Neurology.

Literature on the neurological manifestations of COVID-19 continues to emerge, as does the medical community’s understanding of how COVID-19 impacts the course of underlying neurological conditions like MS and epilepsy.