Role of Imaging in Diagnosis of Neurological Complications of COVID-19
Remon Zaher Elia, Karim Ahmed Abdelaziz, Toqa Hosni Abuzaid Gelany- General Medicine
Background
The COVID-19 pandemic has become a challenging world issue after its emergence in December 2019. Despite its most characteristic symptom of respiratory distress, patients with COVID-19 have also shown neurologic manifestations.
Aim of the Work
To investigate the yield of neuroimaging in patients with COVID-19 undergoing CT or MR imaging of the brain and to describe associated imaging findings.
Patients and Methods
A descriptive cross–sectional study conducted at Ain Shams University Hospitals over a course of eight months from December 2020 to July 2021. All patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection who presented with neurological symptoms and underwent neuroimaging were included.
Results
39 patients were included in the study, with both adults (84.6%) and children (15.4%). Acute ischemic stroke is found to be the most common complication among adult group (48.5%) followed by Post-covid invasive fungal sinusitis (45.5%). Among the children, the neurological complications are rare but severe including vasculitis (50%), infarctions (33.3 %), cerebritis (16.7 %), venous sinus thrombosis (16.7 %), PRES (16.7 %) and non-specific white matter signal abnormality (16.7 %).
Conclusion
COVID-19 primarily affects the respiratory system. However, neurological involvement is not uncommon and can result in serious complications if not detected and managed early. These complications in some cases can even precede the respiratory symptoms or may be the only symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Therefore, a high index of suspicion is required while dealing with such cases for proper treatment and prevention.