Onset of Covid-19 with impaired consciousness and ataxia: a case report

Excerpt

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) [1]. To date, the major concerns about the SARS-CoV2 infection are pulmonary complications [2]; however, neurological manifestations, as dizziness, headache, taste and smell impairment are frequent [3, 4]; cerebrovascular diseases, impaired consciousness, muscle injury, polyradiculoneuropathy and epilepsy have also been reported [3, 5]. Moreover, the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA had been identified in cerebrospinal fluid in a patient with encephalitis [6]. Neurological manifestations mostly occur early in the illness and may be the presenting features of COVID-19 [3‐6]. Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the neuro-invasive potential of the virus, especially its affinity for ACE2 and previous demonstration of neuro-invasivity in other coronaviruses; indirect mechanism might contribute to the neurological damage as well [7]. …