Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
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Meta Analysis
Neurological manifestations of COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis of proportions.
Coronaviruses mainly affect the respiratory system; however, there are reports of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV causing neurological manifestations. We aimed at discussing the various neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to estimate the prevalence of each of them. ⋯ Neurological symptoms are common in SARS-CoV-2 infection, and from the large number of cases reported from all over the world daily, the prevalence of neurological features might increase again. Identifying some neurological manifestations like smell and taste disturbances can be used to screen patients with COVID-19 so that early identification and isolation is possible.
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First in 2002, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), second in 2012, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and now the third in the December 2019, emergence of tremendously pathogenic and large-scale epidemic novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has brought the worst conditions into the human inhabitants of the twenty-first century. The SARS-CoV-2 uses the resembling receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as that for SARS-CoV, and mainly feasts through the respiratory tract. The ACE2 receptor appearances have been also detected upon glial cells and neurons, which makes them a potential target of SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19). ⋯ In this concern, more clinical examinations for CNS involvement of SARS-CoV-2 are warranted. In this article, we have reviewed the neurological characteristic features of COVID-19 patients, latent neurotropic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 involvement in the comorbidity associated with CNS disorders, and neurological manifestations associated with COVID-19. Therefore, in the perspective of COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians and healthcare workers should be aware of a wide spectrum of neurological manifestations associated with COVID-19 along with their signs and symptoms for initial diagnosis and isolation of the patients.