Patients with COVID-19 can require radiological examination, with chest CT being more frequent than neuro-imaging. The objective is to identify epidemiological, clinical and radiological factors considered as predictors of neurological involvement in patients with COVID-19 assessed by neuroimaging and to describe the neuroimaging findings. This retrospective study was performed with 232 consecutive confirmed COVID-19 patients, from two radiological units, which were divided into two groups: (1) those who underwent a brain CT/MRI scan (n = 35) versus (2) those who did not undergo the brain CT/MRI scan, but underwent only chest CT ( n = 197). There was a statistically significant difference with associations regarding the COVID-19 brain scan group for: admission to ICU, greater severity of lung injuries, the use of a mechanical ventilator and sepsis. Statistical tendency was found for chronic renal failure and systemic arterial hypertension. Forty-percent of COVID-19 patients from the brain scan group were abnormal on brain CT and/or brain MRI (22.9% of the cases with bleeding or microbleeding, 8.6% with restricted diffusion lesions). One ischemic stroke case was associated with irregularity at the M1 segment of the right middle cerebral artery. There was a case of left facial nerve palsy with enhancement of the left geniculate ganglia. An analysis of the olfactory bulbs was possible in 12 brain MRIs and 100% had enhancement and/or microbleeding. In conclusion, a more severe COVID-19 disease from ICU, a more severe form of lung disease, the use of mechanical ventilator and sepsis were associated to the COVID-19 patients with neurological involvement who had undergone brain scans. Microvascular phenomenon was a frequent finding in the brain and olfactory bulbs evaluated by neuroimaging.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Risk factors, stroke, CT, Brain, MRI, olfactory bulb, radiology, 【초록키워드】 severity, Lung disease, Sepsis, hypertension, Brain, ICU, COVID-19 disease, Retrospective study, Chest CT, Ischemic Stroke, mechanical ventilator, bleeding, Neuroimaging, epidemiological, predictor, Admission, severe COVID-19 disease, COVID-19 patients, association, Neurological involvement, renal failure, Analysis, chronic renal failure, COVID-19 patient, brain MRI, lung injuries, Arterial hypertension, middle cerebral artery, facial nerve palsy, Factor, brain scan, olfactory bulbs, two groups, lesions, statistically significant difference, palsy, renal, Cerebral artery, enhancement, Facial nerve, irregularity, systemic arterial hypertension, diffusion, radiological, greater, identify, evaluated, was performed, undergo, ganglia, patients with COVID-19, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 clinical, Comparative, profile,