Neurological manifestations and complications of COVID-19. A literature review

KrasaAleksandra,KoziołMagdalena,Piecewicz-SzczęsnaHalina,ŁopuszyńskaAnna,PiekarskaEwa,WięsykPiotr,PawlickiMateusz. Neurological manifestations and complications of COVID-19. A literature review. Journal of Education, Healthand Sport. 2021;11(8):349-360. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2021.11.08.039 https://apcz.umk.pl/czasopisma/index.php/JEHS/article/view/JEHS.2021.11.08.039 https://zenodo.org/record/5300055 The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. § 8. 2) and § 12. 1. 2) 22.02.2019. © The Authors 2021; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 05.08.2021. Revised: 15.08.2021. Accepted: 28.08.2021. Neurological manifestations and complications of COVID-19. A literature review Aleksandra Krasaa, Magdalena Kozioła, Halina Piecewicz-Szczęsnab, Anna Łopuszyńskaa,Ewa Piekarskaa, Piotr Więsyka, Mateusz Pawlickia aStudent Scientific Association at Department of Epidemiology and Clinical Research Methodology, Medical University of Lublin, ul. Radziwiłłowska 11, Lublin 20-080, Poland bDepartment of Epidemiology and Clinical Research Methodology of the Medical University of Lublin, ul. Radziwiłłowska 11, Lublin 20-080, Poland Corresponding author: Aleksandra Krasa, aleksandra.krasa97@gmail.com ORCID ID: Aleksandra Krasa, 0000-0002-0733-202X, aleksandra.krasa97@gmail.com Magdalena Kozioł, 0000-0002-8671-5968, magdalena.koziol@icloud.com dr n. med. Halina Piecewicz-Szczęsna, 0000-0002-0573-7226, halpiec@gmail.com Anna Łopuszyńska, 0000-0001-5133-4180, lopuszynskaania@gmail.com Ewa Piekarska, 0000-0002-4954-379X, piekarskaewaa@gmail.com Piotr Więsyk, 0000-0001-6785-6741, piotrwiesyk@gmail.com Mateusz Pawlicki, 0000-0001-8318-6573, pawlak32@gmail.com ABSTRACT Introduction. The first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection was identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. The disease spread rapidly worldwide and the WHO declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated primarily with respiratory disorders, more and more research is focusing on neurological manifestations and complications. Objective. The aim of the review is to systematize and update the knowledge and available research on neurological complications among COVID-19 patients. Review methods. A systematic search of PubMed and Google Scholar databases was conducted for studies. The following keywords combinations were used: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 infection, neurological complications, neurological manifestations, neuroinvasion, neurovirulence. Results. The disease in most patients is characterized by mild to medium fever, fatigue, dry cough, dyspnea, muscle pain and headache. ACE2, which is the receptor for SARS-COV-2, is ubiquitously expressed in a variety of human organs, including the brain. Following previous reports, these receptors are expressed in both glial cells and neurons. Many studies have reported neurological symptoms and complications among COVID-19 patients. The reported manifestations include: smell and taste disturbance, non-specific symptoms such as myalgia, headache and dizziness, acute cerebrovascular complications, encephalopathy, meningoencephalitis/encephalitis, seizure and complications of the peripheral nervous system. Conclusion.Healthcare professionals dealing with COVID-19, neuroscientists, and the general public should be aware of the neurological complications of COVID-19. Further studies are needed to assess the incidence of COVID-19 neurological complications in different populations and more analyzes are also required to understand the detailed mechanism of how the virus affects the nervous system. Keywords:COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 infection, neurological complications, neurological manifestations, neuroinvasion, neurovirulence.