Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 May 18;12(5):e8192.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.8192.

A Review of Neurological Complications of COVID-19

Mack Sheraton  1 , Neha Deo  2 , Rahul Kashyap  3 , Salim Surani  4   5   6
Affiliations
Review

A Review of Neurological Complications of COVID-19

Mack Sheraton et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2, a novel virus has shown an association with central nervous system (CNS) symptoms. Initial retrospective studies emerging from China and France, as well as case reports from different parts of the world revealed a spectrum of neurological symptoms ranging from a simple headache to more serious encephalitis and dysexecutive syndromes. Authors have tried to explain this neurotropism of the virus by comparing invasion mechanisms with prior epidemic coronavirus like severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). Concrete evidence on those viruses has been limited. This review attempts to discuss various pathophysiological mechanisms as it relates to neurological complications of SARS-CoV-2. We will also discuss the neurological manifestations seen in various retrospective studies, systemic reviews, and case reports.

Keywords: cns complications; coronavirus; covid-19; guillian barre syndrome; neurology; sars-cov-2.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Summary of major neurological abnormalities in COVID-19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO Director-General’s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19 - 11 March. [Apr;2020 ];https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-re... 2020
    1. COVID-19 Map. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. [Apr;2020 ];COVID-19 Map. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html 2020
    1. Central nervous system manifestations of COVID- 19: a systematic review. Asadi-Pooya AA, Simani L. J Neurol Sci. 2020;413:116832. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Evidence of the COVID-19 virus targeting the CNS: tissue distribution, host-virus interaction, and proposed neurotropic mechanisms. Baig AM, Khaleeq A, Ali U, Syeda H. ACS Chem Neurosci. 2020;11:995–998. - PubMed
    1. Neuroinfection may contribute to pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of COVID-19. Steardo L, Steardo L, Zorec R, Verkhratsky A. Acta Physiol (Oxf) 2020:0. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources