UCL Study Finds New Evidence Of Brain Complications Caused By COVID-19

NEW YORK (VINnews) — A new study by University College of London (UCL) researchers claims that there is new evidence about the potential of brain-related complications from COVID-19. Researcher Michael Zandi of the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said that “we should be vigilant and look out for these complications in people who have had COVID-19.”

The researchers, who published their findings in the magazine Brain, analyzed the neurological symptoms of 43 people aged 16-85 who were admitted to a specialist brain hospital in London suffering from symptoms of COVID-19. The main complications discovered among the patients hospitalized at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, a subsidiary of University College of London Hospitals (UCLH), were brain inflammation, stroke, delirium and nerve damage.

Some patients had no respiratory symptoms from COVID-19 but still suffered from neurological conditions which were their only manifestation of the virus. The virus did not appear in cerebrospinal fluids of the patients, suggesting that it did not directly attack the brain but still caused ancillary neurological issues for patients suffering from the virus. Researchers also surmised that the neurological problems were due to an immune response to the virus by the body and were not directly caused by the virus. However, more research was needed before conclusions could be drawn about why Covid-19 patients were developing these neurological complications, they added.

Out of 12 patients in the study who experienced brain inflammation, nine were diagnosed with a rare condition known as ADEM (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis). The condition is usually seen in children and while the research team would normally see one adult patient per month with ADEM, the figure increased to one per week during the study. The researchers also identified 10 cases of transient encephalopathies with delirium, eight cases of strokes, and eight cases of nerve damage, mainly Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Dr. Zandi concluded that “Whether we will see an epidemic on a large scale of brain damage linked to the pandemic – perhaps similar to the encephalitis lethargica outbreak in the 1920s and 1930s after the 1918 influenza pandemic – remains to be seen.”

Joint first author Dr Ross Paterson, from the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, said that “Doctors needs to be aware of possible neurological effects, as early diagnosis can improve patient outcomes.

“People recovering from the virus should seek professional health advice if they experience neurological symptoms.”

Joint senior author Dr Hadi Manji added that the study should be used as a “template” for other researchers and clinicians around to world to help improve the diagnosis and treatment of these neurological complications.