Clinical Characteristics of 365 Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients With Neurological Symptoms: An Observational Study Publisher Pubmed



Vahabizad F^{1, 2} ; Togha M^{2, 3} ; Ariyanfar S^{2, 3} ; Fattahi MR^{2, 6} ; Haghighi S² ; Ebadi Z² ; Ahmadi Karvigh S¹ ; Heidari S² ; Shafaei M² ; Ashraf H⁴ ; Haddadi A⁵ ; Talebpour M⁶ ; Safaei A⁷ ; Asefi H⁸
Source: Acta Neurologica Belgica Published:2023

Abstract

Objective: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of COVID-related neurological manifestations have been reported. We aimed to categorize the features of hospitalized COVID-19 patients who experienced neurological symptoms. Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, we enrolled all patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who experienced neurological symptoms in two hospitals in Tehran. Diagnosis of COVID-19 was established by PCR tests or computed tomography of the chest combined with COVID-19 clinical findings. The clinical characteristics, laboratory data, and imaging findings from 365 patients were analyzed. Results: The average patient age was 59.2 ± 16.7 years and included 213 males and 152 females. The most prevalent neurological symptoms were headache (56.2%), impaired consciousness (55%), and dizziness (20.5%). During hospitalization, most of the patients did not require mechanical ventilation (81.9%). The percentage of patients with end-organ damage was 9% and mortality was 15%. Regression analysis on the neurological symptoms indicated that the mortality rate of patients with headaches was 84% lower than for the other neurological symptoms. Hyperglycemia was significantly related with end-organ damage and mortality (p = 0.029, p = 0.08, respectively). New vascular lesions were evident on brain MRIs of 9 patients and brain CTs of 16 patients. Conclusion: Among the neurological symptoms of patients with COVID-19, headache appeared to indicate a protective factor against development of end-organ damage as well as mortality. © 2022, The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Belgian Neurological Society.