A brief review of the neurological manifestations of the coronavirus disease

Abstract

Introduction: It has been demonstrated experimentally that the coronavirus can enter the central nervous system through olfactory nerves and can even reach medulla. Neurological manifestations are observed more frequently in patients with coronavirus disease. Main text: The aim of the review is to seek evidence for infection of the nervous system by the human coronavirus and study the neurological manifestations of the coronavirus and its treatment. A search was done in PubMed, Google Scholar, CrossRef, and Scopus. There is evidence for the coronavirus infection of the nervous system from experimental studies, autopsy reports, and clinical studies. The virus can damage the nervous system either by direct viral damage to the neural cells or by immunopathology. Cerebral edema, neuronal degeneration, encephalitis, meningoencephalitis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, Guillain–Barré Syndrome, Bickerstaff’s brainstem encephalitis, Miller Fisher syndrome, polyneuritis, toxic encephalopathy, and stroke can occur. The coronavirus has been demonstrated in the cerebrospinal fluid by polymerase chain reaction technique in infected patients. The abnormalities of the coagulation system increase the risk of cerebrovascular disease. Chloroquine analogs, lopinavir/ritonavir combination, remdesivir, dexamethasone, and immunoglobulin have been shown to be useful for the treatment. Conclusion: There is substantial evidence for infection of the nervous system by the different strains of the human coronavirus. The coronavirus enters the nervous system either by the blood or from the olfactory nerves. The neurological diseases correlate with the severity of the coronavirus disease. The treatment is mainly supportive. The reports of patients with encephalitis, encephalomyelitis, and brainstem encephalitis show slow recovery. But a stroke has a high mortality.