• Shashank Agarwal, Kara Melmed, Siddhant Dogra, Rajan Jain, Jenna Conway, Steven Galetta, and Ariane Lewis.
• Department of Neurology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
• Neurocrit Care. 2021 Oct 1; 35 (2): 491500491-500.

BackgroundEvolution of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in critically ill patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unknown.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 4530 critically ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to three tertiary care hospitals in New York City from March 1 to June 30, 2020 to identify patients who had more than one brain MRI. We reviewed the initial and final MRI for each patient to (1) measure the percent change in the bicaudate index and third ventricular diameter and (2) evaluate changes in the presence and severity of white matter changes.ResultsTwenty-one patients had two MRIs separated by a median of 22 [Interquartile range (IQR) 14-30] days. Ventricle size increased for 15 patients (71%) between scans [median bicaudate index 0.16 (IQR 0.126-0.181) initially and 0.167 (IQR 0.138-0.203) on final imaging (p < 0.001); median third ventricular diameter 6.9 mm (IQR 5.4-10.3) initially and 7.2 mm (IQR 6.4-10.8) on final imaging (p < 0.001)]. Every patient had white matter changes on the initial and final MRI; between images, they worsened for seven patients (33%) and improved for three (14%).ConclusionsOn serial imaging of critically ill patients with COVID-19, ventricle size frequently increased over several weeks. White matter changes were often unchanged, but in some cases they worsened or improved, demonstrating there is likely a spectrum of pathophysiological processes responsible for these changes.© 2021. Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature and Neurocritical Care Society.

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