Clinical manifestations and EEG findings in children infected with COVID-19 and exhibiting neurological symptoms

Abstract Background Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) infection has many neurological manifestations, and its effects on the nervous system are increasingly recognized. There has been no systematic analysis of electroencephalography (EEG) characteristics in children exhibiting neurological symptoms of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The primary aim of this study was to describe the EEG characteristics caused by COVID-19 infection in children who were showing neurological symptoms and to assess the relationship between COVID-19-related EEG changes and clinical features in these children. Method: This study included 125 pediatric patients infected with SARS-CoV2 and showing neurological symptoms, and their continuous EEG was recorded. In addition, the demographic and clinical characteristics of these patients were analyzed and the correlation between the two was investigated. Results: Abnormal EEG findings were detected in 31.20% (N = 39) of the patients. Abnormal discharges (43.59%) were the most common EEG abnormalities, followed by background abnormalities (41.03%). The proportion of patients diagnosed with febrile seizure was higher in the normal EEG group than in the abnormal EEG group (P = 0.002), while the opposite was true for epilepsy and encephalitis/encephalopathy (P = 0.016 and P = 0.003, respectively). The independent associated factors of abnormal EEG were age and total length of stay (P