Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) From the Point of View of Neurologists: Observation of Neurological Findings and Symptoms During the Combat Against a Pandemic

Özdağ Acarli, A. N.; Samanci, B.; Ekizoğlu, E.; Çakar, A.; Şirin, N. G.; Gündüz, T.; Parman, Y.; Baykan, B.

Some respiratory viruses have long been known to cause neurological involvement A novel coronavirus, leading to severe acute respiratory syndrome, also called coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), seems to be a new member of neuroinvasive viruses While severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) keeps on spreading around the world rapidly, reports about the neurological manifestations associated with SARS-CoV-2, increases day by day It is reported that a variety of symptoms and syndromes such as headache, dizziness, confusion, ataxia, epilepsy, ischemic stroke, neuropathic pain and myopathy are common especially in more severe COVID-19 patients It is also suggested that the development of neurological complications is strongly associated with a poor outcome On the other hand, hyposmia can be the unique symptom in COVID-19 carriers and this can serve as a marker for identifying the otherwise asymptomatically infected patients It is thought that SARS-CoV-2 may cause neurological symptoms through direct or indirect mechanisms Nevertheless, neuroinvasion capability of SARS-CoV2 is confirmed by the presence of the virus, in the cerebrospinal fluid of a COVID-19 patient with encephalitis, and this is proven by gene sequencing In conclusion, during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is crucial to be aware of the possible neurological complications of the disease Therefore, in this review, we aimed to report neurological manifestations associated with SARS-CoV-2 and possible underlying pathophysiological mechanisms Due to the high homology of SARS-CoV-2 with other human coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV, reviewing the neurological involvement also associated with these coronaviruses will provide an idea about the long-term complications of COVID-19