Experts from University College London (UCL) were the last to describe that Covid-19 can cause neurological complications, including stroke, nerve damage and life-threatening brain inflammation - even if the patients did not have severe respiratory symptoms associated with the disease. .
"We must be vigilant and watch out for these complications in people who have had Covid-19," said co-author Dr. Michael Zandi in a UCL press release, warning that it remains to be seen. if we will see a large-scale epidemic of brain damage linked to the pandemic. "
Follow-up studies will be needed to understand the potential long-term neurological consequences of the pandemic, they said.
The study, published in the journal Brain, examined 43 patients treated at University College London Hospitals for a confirmed or suspected coronavirus, from April to May. Their ages ranged from 16 to 85 years and presented with a range of mild to severe symptoms.
Among these patients, the researchers found 10 cases of "temporary brain dysfunction" and delirium; 12 cases of brain inflammation; eight cases of beatings; and eight cases of nerve damage.
Most patients who have brain inflammation have been diagnosed with a specific, rare, and sometimes fatal condition known as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM). Before the pandemic, the London research team would see about one ADEM patient per month. During the study period, the number increased to at least one per week.
A woman hallucinated lions and monkeys in her house. Others have reported numbness in the limbs or face, double vision and disorientation. A severe patient was barely conscious, only responding when he was in pain.
Researchers are still trying to understand why exactly Covid-19 patients develop these brain complications. The virus that causes Covid-19 was not found in their brain fluid, which means that the virus does not appear to attack the brain directly. One theory, on the contrary, is that complications are triggered indirectly by an immune response from the patient's body - and not from the virus itself.
These results are important in informing how doctors around the world monitor and treat patients - but they also pose new questions and challenges. For patients who do not have severe respiratory symptoms such as breathing problems, it can be difficult to identify these brain complications early enough to prevent or minimize damage. And for critically ill patients, their precarious health may limit the efforts of doctors to investigate what is going on in their brains.
The authors warned that further studies will be "essential" to determine how exactly the virus causes brain damage and how to treat it.
"Since the disease has only been around for a few months, we may not yet know what long-term damage Covid-19 can cause," said first joint author Dr. Ross Paterson in the press release. hurry. "Doctors should be aware of the possible neurological effects, as early diagnosis can improve patient outcomes."
Dr. David Strain of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Exeter, who was not part of the study, described the results as "significant" but "not surprising" given previous coronavirus cases.
"The main limitation is that we don't know what the denominator is, so we don't know how often these complications occur," he said in a statement on Wednesday. "We have already seen that some people with Covid-19 may need a long period of rehabilitation - both physical rehabilitation such as exercise and brain rehabilitation. We need to better understand the impact of this infection on the brain."
