Imaging Patterns of Encephalopathy in Patients with COVID-19

J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2021 Jan;31(1):S42-S45. doi: 10.29271/jcpsp.2021.Supp1.S42.

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective observational study was to describe the neuroimaging manifestations of patients with COVID-19. This study was conducted at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan from March to July 2020. COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms and positive neuroimaging were included after confirmation of COVID-19 by polymerase chain reaction test (PCR). In the 12 included patients, seizures and altered mentation were predominant neurological manifestations. Three cases had acute watershed infarcts (25%), two cases had posterior cerebral artery territorial infarcts (16.7%), two cases had periventricular corona radiata infarcts (16.7%), three cases had hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (25%), two cases had posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (16.7%), and there was one case each of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, pontine infarct, and bithalamic lesions (8.3%). This study highlights the diagnostic approaches in COVID-19-associated encephalopathy and the variable imaging features that clinicians and neuroradiologists should be aware of, as the pandemic progresses. Key Words: COVID-19, Neuroimaging, Encephalopathy, Magnetic resonance imaging, Coronavirus.

Publication types

  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Brain Diseases* / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain Diseases* / etiology
  • COVID-19*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Pandemics
  • Posterior Leukoencephalopathy Syndrome*
  • SARS-CoV-2