The Diagnostic and Prognostic Importance of Neurological Findings on SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Abstract

The coronavirus invades the nervous system with the spread we call neuroinvasion, and "cytokine storm" becomes an important factor affecting the course of the disease. Serious damage occurs in the brain and other organs as a result of cytokine storm. Evidence is accumulating that the coronavirus, which infects millions of people all over the world, affects both the central and peripheral nervous system and muscles as well as the respiratory tract. Increasing evidence has revealed neurological involvement in 36-54% of the patients, which corresponds to almost one in every 2 or 3 patients. In severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) patients, we frequently encounter neurological symptoms such as smell and taste disturbances, fatigue and muscle pain, headache, nausea, vomiting, impaired consciousness, numbness in hands and feet. To a lesser extent, we encounter neurological handicaps such as dizziness, inflammation of the meninges, loss of myelin in nerve tissue, muscle inflammation, and severe rhabdomyolysis. Some of the nervous system diseases accompanying SARS-CoV-2 disease recover with complete or partial sequelae. Observation of permanent dysfunction in patients with neurological findings draws attention to the importance of a detailed neurological evaluation in the examination of these cases.