Neurological symptoms observed in patients with COVID-19

Infection with the novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; SARS-CoV-2) has triggered the largest pandemic of the early 21st century. The disease primarily affects the respiratory system and may present as a common respiratory viral infection, but more severe cases can progress to acute pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome, with heart and kidney failure, digestive symptoms, liver failure, and sometimes death. In SARS-CoV-2 infection, respiratory symptoms are frequently accompanied by neurological manifestations ranging from headaches, dizziness, anosmia, and asthenia to severe complications such as ataxia, seizures, and strokes. A study was conducted on a cohort of 5649 patients clinically and paraclinically diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), admitted to the Victor Babeş Clinical Hospital for Infectious Diseases and Pneumophthisiology, Craiova, Romania, between 2020 and 2022, to identify the most common signs of neurological involvement. The most common signs of neurological involvement in COVID-19 were asthenia, headache, and myalgia. The most severe complications in COVID-19 were strokes.