Abstract
COVID-19 is a global health crisis that has impacted the world with heavy economic and social losses. In the early days of the pandemic, pediatric COVID-19 was well-known for its low infectivity and mortality rates as well as its benign clinical outcomes. Herein, we report the case of a 6-year-old girl with COVID-19-associated encephalopathy without respiratory symptoms. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first child reported from Saudi Arabia with COVID-19-induced encephalopathy. A 6-year-old patient with COVID-19 was presented to the Abha Maternity and Child Hospital in southeastern Saudi Arabia. Routine clinical and laboratory examinations revealed normal findings. Despite the absence of COVID-19 respiratory manifestations, the patient manifested COVID-19-related encephalopathy. The patient responded well to pulse steroid, favipiravir, and symptomatic seizure therapies. The patient recovered completely without any neurologic morbidities. A COVID-19-related encephalopathy was observed for the first time in Saudi Arabia among pediatric patients. Clinicians should be alert to potential neurologic complications associated with COVID-19. It should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children presenting with acute encephalopathy, even in the absence of respiratory symptoms. To avoid long-term neurologic sequelae, prompt seizure and immunosuppressive therapies are essential.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, children, Encephalopathy, status epilepticus, 【초록키워드】 pandemic, knowledge, pediatric, Favipiravir, Saudi Arabia, clinical outcomes, Laboratory, Health, symptomatic, Pediatric patients, Child, Patient, Complication, mortality rate, differential diagnosis, Therapies, immunosuppressive therapy, Seizure, respiratory symptoms, maternity, morbidities, routine, pulse, respiratory manifestations, neurologic, patient with COVID-19, reported, the patient, absence, manifested, presenting, recovered completely, impacted, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 Saudi Arabia, Case report,