New-Onset Movement Disorders Associated with COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Infectious Diseases
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Movement disorders are increasingly recognized as potential neurological complications of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection.
• While prevalence is low, these manifestations occur in both hospitalized and milder cases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and describe the spectrum of movement disorders associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.
• To aid clinicians in identifying these neurological features within COVID-19 symptomatology.

Main Methods:

• A systematic literature review of PubMed/MEDLINE was conducted.
• Searched for English-language articles from COVID-19's initial descriptions up to January 25, 2021.
• Identified 93 cases of new-onset movement disorders from 200 screened papers.

Main Results:

• Myoclonus was the most frequent (63.4%), followed by ataxia (38.7%) and oculomotor abnormalities (20.4%).
• Other reported disorders included tremor, rigid-akinetic syndrome, catatonia, dystonia, chorea, and functional movement disorders.
• Encephalopathy was a common co-occurrence (39.78%).

Conclusions:

• Movement disorders are uncommon but significant neurological manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
• Myoclonus is the most commonly reported disorder, often associated with encephalopathy and ataxia.
• Pathophysiology remains unclear, potentially involving inflammatory, post-infectious, autoimmune, or hypoxic mechanisms.