Neurological manifestations of paediatric acute COVID infections: A single centre experience

Abstract

Background

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) usually leads to a mild infectious disease course in children, while serious complications may occur in conjunction with both acute infection and neurological symptoms, which have been predominantly reported in adults. The neurological complications in these patients vary based on patient age and underlying comorbidities. Data on clinical features, particularly neurological features, and prognostic factors in children and adolescents are limited. The present study provides a concise overview of neurological complications in pediatric COVID-19 cases.

Materials and Methods

The retrospective study reviewed medical records of all patients who were admitted to our hospital and were diagnosed with COVID-19 by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assay between March 11, 2020 and January 30, 2021. Patients with a positive PCR result were categorized into two groups: Out Patient Departments (OPD) patients and In Patient Departments (IPD).

Results

Of the 2,530 children who underwent RT-PCR during the study period, 382 (8.6%) were confirmed as COVID-19 positive, comprising 188 (49.2%) girls and 194 (50.8%) boys with a mean age of 7.14±5.84 (range, 0-17) years. Neurological complications that required hospitalization were present in 34 (8.9%) patients, including seizure (52.9%), headache (38.2%), dizziness (11.1%) and meningoencephalitis (%5.8).

Conclusion

The results indicated that neurological manifestations are not rare in children suffering from COVID-19. Seizures, headaches, dizziness, anosmia, ageusia, and meningoencephalitis major neurological manifestations during acute COVID-19 disease. Although seizures were the most common cause of hospitalization in IPD patients, the frequency of meningoensalitis was quite high. Seizures were observed as febrile seizures for children under six years of age and afebrile seizures for those over 6 years of age. Febrile seizure accounted for half of all seizure children.