Manifestações neurológicas dos pacientes com doença causada pelo SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) admitidos em hospitais brasileiros : prevalência e caracterização

Abstract

In 2019, a disease appeared caused by a type of coronavírus not yet discribed, wich as called coronavírus disease (COVID-19), hose clinical manifestation was associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome of type 2 coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Pulmonary disorders are common and predate the robust form, however, neurological manifetations such as headache, dizziness,mental confusion, epileptic seizures and stroke have been reported in cohort studies. The increase in the number of infected people and the little knowledge about the neurological manifestations of these patients, especially in low- and middle-income countries is extremely worrying by the low responsiveness of the health system to the potential for affecting huge number of cases, which can lead to the collapse of the health system. In front of this scenario, it is very likely that we will face consequences of morbidity and mortality of proportion not yet scaled, but with a high impact on the healthcare network of the Brazilian Unified Health and financial System. Thus, the present study aimed to describe how neurological manifestations of a large cohort of patients with disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) admitted to Brazilian hospitals. Patients were grouped by age group and the highest prevalence of drowsiness and mental confusion/altered consciousness occurred after 60 years of age (p<0.001), this age being one of the main risk factors known to be associated with the severity of COVID-19 infection.