A Fatal Case Coronavirus Disease 2019 - Associated Acute Hemorrhagic Necrotizing Encephalopathy

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported in association with a variety of brain imaging findings such as acute hemorrhagic necrotizing encephalopathy. To the best of our knowledge, we are reporting a second case of acute necrotizing hemorrhagic encephalopathy associated with COVID-19, which was fatal in a few hours in a 56-year-old male without a specific history. We claim that this case is important because this case shows that the unconscious patients are potentially infected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and might cause the horizontal infection. In order to end the pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 diseases, the diagnosis of the disease must be prompt and not overlook any findings. We think that diffusion magnetic resonance imaging is a promising and useful sequence to evaluate the changes in brain tissue in the acute necrotizing encephalopathy.

Keywords: Acute hemorrhagic necrotizing encephalopathy; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; death.