Large International Study Reveals Spectrum of COVID-19 Brain Complications

At A Glance
- Central nervous system disorders are important complications in COVID-19, affecting more than one in 100 hospitalized patients.
- Researchers looked at almost 40,000 cases of hospitalized COVID-19 positive patients from seven U.S. and four western European university hospitals.
- There were 442 acute neuroimaging findings that were most likely associated with the viral infection, the most common being ischemic stroke.

Among nearly 38,000 patients hospitalised with Covid-19 in the United States and Europe, symptoms led doctors to suspect brain complications in about 11%.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) exams confirmed central nervous system abnormalities that were most likely associated with the virus in 10% of those patients, for an overall incidence of 1.2%.

The most common finding was stroke due to clogged arteries, but the researchers also saw bleeding in the brain, inflammation of the brain, and other potentially fatal complications.

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