Abstract 1122‐000008: Neurological Patterns in Covid ‐19 – A Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Introduction : COVID‐19 infection can show various manifestations, including neurologic manifestations, such as meningoencephalitis, cerebral vascular thrombosis, transverse myelitis, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, Guillain‐Barre syndrome, posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, and many more. The study aims to briefly touch upon and identify the neurologic manifestations in the COVID‐19 infection in Pakistan during its third wave of SARS –Cov ‐2 (Kent or alpha) variant strain. Methods : We conducted a prospective study of all patients diagnosed with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection either by RT‐PCR or by COVID Index at our institution, from the beginning of the third wave from March 2021 to June 2021. A total of 2,808 patients with Covid were identified at our institution, 26 of whom were diagnosed with neurological diseases. Results : A total of 26 cases of COVID ‐19 manifested with neurological diseases. The patients were of all ages ranging from 18 years to 84 years. There were 17 males in the study. hemorrhage. Five patients had Subarachnoid hemorrhaging. Four patients presented with post‐COVID ‐19 mucormycotic. Sixteen cases reported confirmed COVID‐19, confirmation by positive swab test using the real‐time RT‐PCR method, neurological disorder, or syndrome on presentation or found during the hospital stay. The rest were diagnosed based on COVID Index; all markers were raised with COVID ‐19 symptoms. In seventeen cases, the patients recovered fully, while the others all expired. Conclusions : It is not commonly known, but COVID‐19 also affects the brain, resulting in a global and focal neurologic manifestation. Currently, it is difficult to distinguish whether the neurological complications of COVID‐19 are a consequence of direct or indirect effects of viral infections—therefore, emphasis on finding the concomitant cause of neurological infection in COVID ‐19. Further, healthcare providers treating a patient with a COVID‐19 infection should also be aware of neurologic manifestation associated with a COVID‐19 infection to improve patient outcomes.