Around 42% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Punjab reported neurological symptoms during the illness, revealed a study conducted at different hospitals.

The study titled "Neurological manifestations of COVID-19 hospitalized patients in the state of Punjab", analyzed the data of 1,000 hospitalized patients from November 2020 through April 2021.

Among hospitalized patients in the state, neurological symptoms have ranged from headache and hyposmia, to serious complications such as seizures and stroke. Experts have advised that constant monitoring of critically ill patients should be done to check for progression of neurological symptoms.

Around 62.5% of the study participants were male and 37.5% were females. The most common comorbidities included hypertension (34.8%), diabetes mellitus (18.8%), ischemic heart disease (8.2%) and cerebrovascular disease (5.2%).

Around 67.2% of the study participants exhibited neurological symptoms. The most common were headache (31.3%) and dizziness (11.2%), followed by encephalopathy (7.8%), hyposmia (5.2%), and serious complications, including seizures (1.8%) and stroke (2.8%). Other common presenting manifestations included 945 (94.5%), cough (64.3%), and dyspnea (47.6%).

Neurological symptoms were the presenting manifestations in 5.8% of the patients while around 42% of the patients developed neurological involvement during illness.

Several patients presenting with vascular and inflammatory neurological diseases like stroke, Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) and facial nerve palsy were found to have mild or no respiratory symptoms. Therefore, experts recommend that all patients who present with acute neurological illness should be checked for COVID-19 during the pandemic.

Researchers emphasized that infected patients with underlying comorbidities have an increased risk and it is important to monitor neurological symptoms, as it will indicate how the condition will progress and will also help in preventing worsening of the patient’s condition. The study has been published in a special edition on COVID-19 of Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science.

The study concluded that patients presenting with new‐onset focal neurology, with or without coryzal symptoms, must be assessed and treated with suspicion of COVID-19. This will enable early detection of infection and will help prevent deterioration of the patient’s condition.

Source: ET Healthworld