Cited by 169Long-Term Effects of COVID-19Infectious Encephalopathies and EncephalitisCOVID-19 Clinical Research Studies

Neurological manifestations and COVID-19: Experiences from a tertiary care center at the Frontline

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Pinna, Pranusha, Grewal, Parneet, Hall, Julianne P., Tavarez, Tachira, Dafer, Rima M., Garg, Rajeev, Osteraas, Nicholas D., Pellack, Danielle R. +6 more·2020·Journal of the Neurological Sciences

Abstract

Objective To report neurological manifestations seen in patients hospitalized with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from a large academic medical center in Chicago, Illinois. Methods We retrospectively reviewed data records of 50 patients with COVID-19 who were evaluated by the neurology services from March 1, 2020 - April 30, 2020. Patients were categorized into 2 groups based on timing of developing neurological manifestations: the "Neuro first" group had neurological manifestations upon initial assessment, and the "COVID first" group developed neurological symptoms greater than 24 h after hospitalization. The demographics, comorbidities, disease severity and neurological symptoms and diagnoses of both groups were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the two groups. Results A total of 50 patients (48% African American and 24% Latino) were included in the analysis. Most common neurological manifestations observed were encephalopathy (n = 30), cerebrovascular disease (n = 20), cognitive impairment (n = 13), seizures (n = 13), hypoxic brain injury (n = 7), dysgeusia (n = 5), and extraocular movement abnormalities (n = 5). The "COVID-19 first" group had more evidence of physiologic disturbances on arrival with a more severe/critical disease course (83.3% vs 53.8%, p 0.025). Conclusion Neurologic manifestations of COVID-19 are highly variable and can occur prior to the diagnosis of or as a complication of the viral infection. Despite similar baseline comorbidities and demographics, the COVID-19 patients who developed neurologic symptoms later in hospitalization had more severe disease courses. Differently from previous studies, we noted a high percentage of African American and Latino individuals in both groups.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jns.2020.116969

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  • A subset of COVID-19 patients report sustained mental problems.

    “where a subset of patients report sustained mental problems (Heneka et al., 2020, Pinna et al., 2020)”

    From Guanfacine’s mechanism of action in treating prefrontal cortical disorders: Successful translation across species (2020) · cites this paper as Pinna et al., 2020

    The Results report cognitive abnormalities, particularly short-term memory impairment, in 12 of 50 COVID-19 patients. But the Limitations state that long-term follow-up data were unavailable, so the paper does not establish that these problems were sustained. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Anti-inflammatory effects of guanfacine may be useful for treating long-term neural consequences of COVID-19.

    “The anti-inflammatory effects of guanfacine may also be useful for treating the long-term neural consequences of COVID-19”

    From Guanfacine’s mechanism of action in treating prefrontal cortical disorders: Successful translation across species (2020) · cites this paper as Pinna et al., 2020

    The Discussion (page unavailable) describes neurological manifestations of COVID-19, but does not discuss guanfacine or its anti-inflammatory effects. The Limitations (page unavailable) state that long-term follow-up data were unavailable. Searches for guanfacine and treatment of long-term neurological consequences found no supporting passage in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [9]Novel Coronavirus pneumonia diagnosis and treatment plan (Provisional 7th Edition) Accessed April 30, 2020 https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/coronavirus-treatment-plan-7/

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Authors
Pinna, P., Grewal, P., Hall, J. P., Tavarez, T., Dafer, R. M., Garg, R., Osteraas, N. D., Pellack, D. R., Asthana, A., Fegan, K., Patel, V., Conners, J. J., John, S., & Silva, I. D.
Affiliations
Rush University Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Pinna, Pranusha
Venue
Journal of the Neurological Sciences
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2020-08
Volume
415
Pages
116969
ISSN
0022-510X (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3033833391
Cited by
169
References
19
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 61 · 2020: 28
FWCI
16.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of the Neurological Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Long-Term Effects of COVID-19
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Infectious Encephalopathies and Encephalitis
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, neurological symptoms, encephalopathy, cerebrovascular disease, cognitive impairment, seizures, hypoxic brain injury, dysgeusia, disease severity, racial disparities, African American patients, Hispanic patients
MeSH terms
Betacoronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Chicago, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Nervous System Diseases, Pneumonia, Viral, Retrospective Studies, Time Factors, Comorbidity, Coronavirus Infections, Pandemics, Tertiary Care Centers

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