New Study Finds Severe Cases of COVID-19 May Be Linked to Brain Complications
A small study found a correlation between brain complications and severe cases of COVID-19, raising concerns about the disease's impact in some patients. The research noted stroke and psychosis as possible side effects of the virus.
The preliminary study, based on doctors' observations, is the first nationwide survey of the possible neurological complications of the novel coronavirus.
The research was done over the course of three weeks. It involved 153 hospitalized patients in the U.K. The patients were both diagnosed with COVID-19 and a new neurological or psychiatric complication.
The report published on The Lancet Psychiatry found that 57 of the study's 125 patients had a stroke caused by a blood clot in the brain. Nine patients suffered from a stroke caused by a brain hemorrhage, and one had a stroke caused by inflammation of blood vessels.
The researchers also noted 39 patients who now suffer from an altered mental state. Ten of the patients with an altered mental state developed psychosis-disruptions that make it difficult for an individual to determine what is real and what isn't. Seven were diagnosed with encephalitis or inflammation of the brain. While the diagnoses were new, the researchers noted that the patients could have been undiagnosed before developing COVID-19, The Guardian reports.
The patients were between the ages of 23 to 94. While stroke mostly occurred in older patients, those who experience an altered mental state were seen across all ages.
What do other studies say?
The U.K. report is the most recent work examining the possible connection between COVID-19 and brain complications. Studies conducted in other countries, including France and China, found that coronavirus patients often reported neurological symptoms.
In Germany, autopsies conducted on COVID-19 patients revealed inflammation in the brain. In Massachusetts, autopsies uncovered low levels of the virus in the brain, USA Today reported.
In the U.S., doctors in New York first reported a surge in strokes involving younger patients in April. Over a 14-day period, medical professionals at Mount Sinai recorded five-stroke cases in patients under the age of 50.
Other viral diseases, including Zika and HIV, are known to cause neurological and psychiatric complications. Other conditions, such as SARS and MERS, also had links to brain complications.
Other Lingering Symptoms
With over 10 million confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide, there have been a growing number of reports in which people who recovered from the disease continue to experience long-term debilitating side effects such as delirium, pneumonia, and a loss of taste and smell, and fatigue.
In a previous report, a 24-year-old healthy basketball player who was hospitalized and ventilated after contracting COVID-19 suffered from phantom pains in one leg after being discharged from the hospital. The once health athlete was forced to take physical therapy. He also developed high blood pressure and pulse rate.