Encephalitis as a neurological manifestation of COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: In the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the different clinical manifestations of this infection pose a challenge for healthcare professionals. Respiratory involvement, the main symptom of SARS-CoV-2 infection, means that other manifestations, such as neurological, take a back seat, with the consequent delay in diagnosis and treatment.

Material and methods: All COVID-19 patients admitted with neurological symptoms or diagnosed with encephalitis since March 2020 in a tertiary hospital in Zaragoza, Spain.

Results: Two patients with COVID-19 infection confirmed by nasopharyngeal PCR and whose clinical picture consisted of neurological alterations compatible with encephalitis. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) microbiology was negative for bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 but, given the clinical suspicion of encephalitis due to the latter, antiviral treatment with immunoglobulins and plasmapheresis was started early. Despite this, the evolution was not satisfactory.

Conclusions: COVID-19 encephalitis is a recently described clinical entity, whose pathophysiology is still unknown and no treatment with clinical evidence is available to date.

Keywords: COVID-19; Encefalitis; Encephalitis; Manifestaciones neurológicas; Neurological manifestations; Neurology; Neurología; SARS-CoV-2.