Author/Authors :
Ashrafi, Farzad Functional Neurosurgery Research Center - Shohadaye Tajrish Neurosurgical Center of Excellence - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Ommi, Davood Functional Neurosurgery Research Center - Shohadaye Tajrish Neurosurgical Center of Excellence - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Zali, Alireza Functional Neurosurgery Research Center - Shohadaye Tajrish Neurosurgical Center of Excellence - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Khani, Sina School of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Soheili, Amirali School of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Arab-Ahmadi, Mehran Advanced Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Research Center - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Behnam, Behdad Department of Internal Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Nohesara, Shabnam Mental Health Research Center - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Semnani, Farbod Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Fatemi, Alireza Department of Infectious Diseases - Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Salari, Mehri Functional Neurosurgery Research Center - Shohadaye Tajrish Neurosurgical Center of Excellence - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Jalili khoshnood, Reza Functional Neurosurgery Research Center - Shohadaye Tajrish Neurosurgical Center of Excellence - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Vahidi, Mohammad School of Medicine - Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Ayoobi-Yazdi, Niloofar Advanced Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Research Center - Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Hosseini Toudeshki, Saeed Department of Radiation Oncology - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran , Sobhrakhshankhah, Elham Department of Internal Medicine - Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Abstract :
Introduction: COVID-19 might present with other seemingly unrelated manifestations; for instance, neurological
symptoms. This study aimed to evaluate the neurologic manifestations and their correlated factors in
COVID-19 patients. Methods: This retrospective observational study was conducted from March 17, 2020 to
June 20, 2020 in a tertiary hospital in Iran. The study population consisted of adult patients with a positive result
for COVID-19 real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using nasopharyngeal swabs.
Both written and electronic data regarding baseline characteristic, laboratory findings, and neurological manifestationswere
evaluated and reported. Results: 727 COVID-19 patientswith the mean age of 49.94 ± 17.49 years
were studied (56.9% male). At least one neurological symptom was observed in 403 (55.4%) cases. Headache
(29.0%), and smell (22.3%) and taste (22.0%) impairment were the most prevalent neurological symptoms, while
seizure (1.1%) and stroke (2.3%) were the least common ones. Patients with neurological manifestations were
significantly older (p = 0.04), had greater body mass index (BMI) (p = 0.02), longer first symptom to admission
duration (p < 0.001) and were more frequently opium users (p = 0.03) compared to COVID-19 patients without
neurological symptoms. O2 saturation was significantly lower in patients with neurological manifestations (p =
0.04). In addition, medians of neutrophil count (p = 0.006), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (p = 0.02) and
c-reactive protein (CRP) (p = 0.001) were significantly higher and the median of lymphocyte count (p = 0.03) was
significantly lower in patients with neurological manifestations. Conclusion: The prevalence of neurological
manifestations in the studied cases was high (55.4%). This prevalence was significantly higher in older age,
grated BMI, longer lasting disease, and opium usage.
