Multinational characterization of neurological phenotypes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

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4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Neurological complications worsen outcomes in COVID-19. To define the prevalence of neurological conditions among hospitalized patients with a positive SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test in geographically diverse multinational populations during early pandemic, we used electronic health records (EHR) from 338 participating hospitals across 6 countries and 3 continents (January–September 2020) for a cross-sectional analysis. We assessed the frequency of International Classification of Disease code of neurological conditions by countries, healthcare systems, time before and after admission for COVID-19 and COVID-19 severity. Among 35,177 hospitalized patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, there was an increase in the proportion with disorders of consciousness (5.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.7–7.8%, pFDR < 0.001) and unspecified disorders of the brain (8.1%, 5.7–10.5%, pFDR < 0.001) when compared to the pre-admission proportion. During hospitalization, the relative risk of disorders of consciousness (22%, 19–25%), cerebrovascular diseases (24%, 13–35%), nontraumatic intracranial hemorrhage (34%, 20–50%), encephalitis and/or myelitis (37%, 17–60%) and myopathy (72%, 67–77%) were higher for patients with severe COVID-19 when compared to those who never experienced severe COVID-19. Leveraging a multinational network to capture standardized EHR data, we highlighted the increased prevalence of central and peripheral neurological phenotypes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, particularly among those with severe disease.

Original languageEnglish
Article number20238
JournalScientific Reports
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
AS is funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) K23HL148394 and L40HL148910, and NIH-National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) UL1TR001420. JM is funded by NIH-National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAD) AI11679. LP is funded by NCATS Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Number UL1TR002366. GO is funded by NIH National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) P30ES017885 and National Cancer Institute (NCI) U24CA210967. SV is funded by NIH-National Library of Medicine (NLM) R01LM012095 and NCATS UL1TR001857. DM is funded by NCATS CTSA Number UL1-TR001878. ZX is funded by NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) R01NS098023.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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