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
. 2021 Feb;27(1):26-34.
doi: 10.1007/s13365-020-00941-1. Epub 2021 Jan 25.

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome, a post-infectious neurologic complication of COVID-19: case series and review of literature

Maziar Emamikhah  1 , Mansoureh Babadi  2 , Mehrnoush Mehrabani  3 , Mehdi Jalili  2 , Maryam Pouranian  4 , Peyman Daraie  5 , Fahimeh Mohaghegh  1 , Sharmin Aghavali  1 , Maryam Zaribafian  6 , Mohammad Rohani  7   8
Affiliations
Review

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome, a post-infectious neurologic complication of COVID-19: case series and review of literature

Maziar Emamikhah et al. J Neurovirol. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndrome is a heterogeneous constellation of symptoms ranging from full combination of these three neurological findings to varying degrees of isolated individual sign. Since the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), neurological symptoms, syndromes, and complications associated with this multi-organ viral infection have been reported and the various aspects of neurological involvement are increasingly uncovered. As a neuro-inflammatory disorder, one would expect to observe opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome after a prevalent viral infection in a pandemic scale, as it has been the case for many other neuro-inflammatory syndromes. We report seven cases of opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome presumably parainfectious in nature and discuss their phenomenology, their possible pathophysiological relationship to COVID-19, and diagnostic and treatment strategy in each case. Finally, we review the relevant data in the literature regarding the opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome and possible similar cases associated with COVID-19 and its diagnostic importance for clinicians in various fields of medicine encountering COVID-19 patients and its complications.

Keywords: COVID-19; Myoclonus; Opsoclonus; Parainfectious; SARS-CoV-2.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Chest computed tomography (CT) scan of case 1 shows few peripheral patchy ground-glass opacities in both lungs
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Chest CT scan of case 2 shows patchy peripheral ground glass opacities and consolidations in both lungs
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Chest CT scan of case 3 shows patchy peripheral ground glass opacities and consolidations in both lungs typical for COVID-19 involvements
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Chest CT scan of case 5 shows patchy peripheral opacities (circles) in both lungs more severe in right lung in favor of COVID-19 diagnosis
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Chest CT scan of case 6 shows patchy peripheral opacities in both lungs in favor of COVID-19 diagnosis
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Chest CT scan of case 7 shows patchy predominantly peripheral ground glass opacities and consolidations in both lungs supporting the COVID-19 diagnosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Beach SR, Praschan NC, Hogan C, Dotson S, Merideth F, Kontos N, Fricchione GL, Smith FA. Delirium in COVID-19: a case series and exploration of potential mechanisms for central nervous system involvement. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2020 doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2020.05.008. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cameron L, Kilbane C (2019) Opsoclonus Myoclonus Syndrome. In: Advances in Translational Neuroscience of Eye Movement Disorders. Springer, pp 471-486. 10.1007/978-3-030-31407-1_23
    1. Caviness JN. Myoclonus CONTINUUM: Lifelong Learning in Neurology. 2019;25:1055–1080. doi: 10.1212/CON.0000000000000750. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Caviness JN, Brown P. Myoclonus: current concepts and recent advances. Lancet Neurol. 2004;3:598–607. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(04)00880-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chaumont H, San-Galli A, Martino F, Couratier C, Joguet G, Carles M, Roze E, Lannuzel A (2020) Mixed central and peripheral nervous system disorders in severe SARS-CoV-2 infection. J Neurol 1–7. 10.1007/s00415-020-09986-y - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms