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Neurological Manifestations in a Cohort of Egyptian Patients with COVID-19: A Prospective, Multicenter, Observational Study

Authors :
Doaa A. Mekkawy
Sherif Hamdy
Maged Abdel-Naseer
Hatem S. Shehata
Ahmed Al Halfawy
Nevin M. Shalaby
Ghaydaa A. Shehata
Anwar M. Ali
Alaa Elmazny
Sandra M. Ahmed
Jumana H. Ismail
Aml Ibraheim
Hoda M. Abdel-Hamid
Rehab Magdy
Younan Kabara Ayoub
Ahmed E. Taha
Nahla Merghany
Nourhan M. Soliman
Haidy Elshebawy
Samar E. S. Abdelal
Lobna El-Ghoneimy
Aussan Al-Athwari
Nirmeen A. Kishk
Mona A. F. Nada
Marwa Farghaly
Amr Hassan
Mohamed I. Hegazy
Ahmed Abdelalim
Husam S. Mourad
Amira Hassouna
Alshimaa S. Othman
Tissa Wijeratne
Source :
Brain Sciences, Vol 12, Iss 1, p 74 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has reached over 276 million people globally with 5.3 million deaths as of 22nd December 2021. COVID-19-associated acute and long-term neurological manifestations are well recognized. The exact profile and the timing of neurological events in relation to the onset of infection are worth exploring. The aim of the current body of work was to determine the frequency, pattern, and temporal profile of neurological manifestations in a cohort of Egyptian patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Methods: This was a prospective study conducted on 582 hospitalized COVID-19 patients within the first two weeks of the diagnosis of COVID-19 to detect any specific or non-specific neurological events. Results: The patients’ mean (SD) age was 46.74 (17.26) years, and 340 (58.42%) patients were females. The most commonly encountered COVID-19 symptoms were fever (90.72%), cough (82.99%), and fatigue (76.98%). Neurological events (NE) detected in 283 patients (48.63%) and were significantly associated with a severe COVID-19 at the onset (OR: 3.13; 95% CI: 2.18–4.51; p < 0.0001) and with a higher mortality (OR: 2.56; 95% CI: 1.48–5.46; p = 0.019). The most frequently reported NEs were headaches (n = 167) and myalgias (n = 126). Neurological syndromes included stroke (n = 14), encephalitis (n = 12), encephalopathy (n = 11), transverse myelitis (n = 6) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (n = 4). Conclusions: Neurological involvement is common (48.63%) in COVID-19 patients within the first two weeks of the illness. This includes neurological symptoms such as anosmia, headaches, as well as a constellation of neurological syndromes such as stroke, encephalitis, transverse myelitis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Severity of acute COVID-19 illness and older age are the main risk factors.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20763425
Volume :
12
Issue :
1
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Brain Sciences
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.1388f776e73c4e69b1cb581a9cf6f44e
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12010074