COVID-19 and Neurology: An Emerging Association

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, which is a cause of the ongoing pandemic, has the potential to infect the nervous system and cause neurological manifestations. However, patients with primarily neurological symptoms are often overlooked, therefore, they are being tested later.

We aim to summarize all the neurological manifestations that have been reported so far, to aid in early diagnosis and prevent further complications of the disease.

We did a literature search on the topic through Google Scholar, PubMed, and WHO resources by keywords, including coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, clinical features, stroke, transverse myelitis, encephalitis, encephalopathy, Guillain-Barre syndrome, hypogeusia, hyposmia, anosmia, and neurological manifestations.

SARS-CoV-2 can affect the neuronal cells by both direct and indirect mechanisms. This can lead to various neurological manifestations ranging from subtle symptoms of myalgia, headache, dizziness, hypogeusia, hyposmia to dreaded complications like stroke, encephalitis, demyelinating disease like Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Presentation of COVID-19 with neurological features is not uncommon, and these patients should be tested earlier to help in the prevention of transmission, early diagnosis, and management.