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Review
. 2020 Oct;10(4):281-286.
doi: 10.1177/1941874420936096. Epub 2020 Jul 10.

Emerging Neurology of COVID-19

Sana Somani  1 , Shruti P Agnihotri  1
Affiliations
Review

Emerging Neurology of COVID-19

Sana Somani et al. Neurohospitalist. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

The virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the current pandemic known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with severe respiratory illness as the predominant manifestation. Neurologic complications from COVID-19 were reported in the early stages of the pandemic and are now increasingly recognized. These include various symptoms like headache and anosmia as well as neurologic complications of severe COVID-19 like encephalopathy, seizures, and stroke. There are few reports of direct involvement of the central nervous system with SARS-CoV-2 causing meningoencephalitis. There is concern for higher incidence and severity of COVID-19 in patients with chronic neurologic conditions. Here, we review the emerging literature along with our anecdotal experience in regard to these neurologic manifestations in patients with COVID-19 and detail the putative pathophysiologic mechanisms for the same.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; encephalopathy; meningoencephalitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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