TABLE 2.

Characteristics of case report studies

First author	Country	Published time	Age (years)	Sex	Encephalitis diagnosis method	CT results	MRI results	Special encephalitis treatment	SARS‐CoV‐2 diagnosis method	COVID‐19 treatment	Clinical manifestations	SARS‐CoV‐2 diagnosis in CSF sample	Comorbidities	Outcomes
Kumar N 36	India	October 2020	35	M	Head CT	Hypodensities in both thalami and left caudate nucleus	NP	Propofol infusion, mannitol, IV methylprednisolone	RT‐PCR	Hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, IV amoxicillin‐clavulanic acid	Fever, vomiting, DC	NP	Invasive meningioma	Death
Novi G 37	Italy	September 2020	64	F	Brain and spine MRI, CSF analysis	NP	Multiple enhancing lesions of the brain, bilateral optic nerve enhancement	IV methylprednisolone, prednisone	RT‐PCR, antibody testing	IV immunoglobulin	RS, anosmia, ageusia, visual impairment, behavioral changes, headache, hyperreflexia	Positive	Vitiligo, hypertension, monoclonal gammopathy	Discharged
Ayuso LL 38	Spain	September 2020	72	F	Brain MRI, immunoblot analysis	NP	Hyperintensity in cerebellum, contrast enhancement on the floor of the fourth ventricle	IV methylprednisolone, prednisone	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, ceftriaxone	Psychiatric symptoms, fever, AMS, dizziness, visual impairment, unsteadiness, cerebellar signs	NP	Hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, depression	Discharged
Khan Z 39	USA	November 2020	30	M	Head CT	Opacifications of paranasal sinuses, hypodensity of the white matter	Hyperintensity in the white matter of cerebral hemispheres	Acyclovir	RT‐PCR, chest CTy	NM	Seizure, DC, behavioral changes, myoclonus, AMS, psychiatric symptoms	NP	Obesity	Still hospitalized
Westhoff TH 40	Germany	July 2020	69	M	Brain MRI, CSF analysis	NP	Linear meningeal enhancement/hyperintensity in the white matter	NM	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Hydroxychloroquine	Fever, RS, diarrhea, pancreas and kidney allograft dysfunction, seizure, hemi‐neglect, fatigue	Positive	Immunosuppression	Discharged
Kamal YM 41	United Arab Emirate	September 2020	31	M	CSF analysis, head CT, brain MRI	Bilateral hypodensities in the external capsules, the insular cortex and white matter of the frontal lobes	Bilateral diffusion restriction in the temporal and frontal lobes/bilateral hyperintensity in the temporal lobe cortex	IV acyclovir sodium	RT‐PCR	Chloroquine, lopinavir–ritonavir	Behavioral changes, AMS, agitation, drowsiness	Positive	None	Discharged
Rebeiz T 21	USA	September 2020	NM	M	CSF analysis, brain MRI	Subarachnoid hemorrhage within the mesial parietal region/nonspecific hypo‐attenuation in the splenium of the corpus callosum	Diffusion restriction and hyperintensity of the corpus callosum, left thalamus and frontal cortex	Acyclovir, ceftriaxone, vancomycin	RT‐PCR	NM	Behavioral changes, fever, AMS, psychiatric symptoms	NP	None	Death
Zoghi A 42	Iran	June 2020	21	M	CSF analysis, brain and cervical MRI	NP	Hyperintensity in the internal capsule, cerebral peduncles, pons and the corpus callosum	IV vancomycin, meropenem, acyclovir	Chest CT, antibody testing	Plasma exchange	Anorexia, vomiting, food intolerance, malaise, lower limbs paralysis, weakness, urinary retention, drowsiness	Negative	None	NM
Moriguchi T 9	Japan	May 2020	24	M	Brain MRI	NP	Hyperintensity along the wall of right lateral ventricle, right temporal lobe and hippocampus, slight hippocampus atrophy	IV ceftriaxone, vancomycin, acyclovir, steroids	Chest CT, RT‐PCR	Favipiravir	Fatigue, fever, headache, RS, seizure, unconsciousness	Positive	NM	Still hospitalized
Haqiqi A 43	United kingdom	January 2021	56	M	Head CT, brain MRI, CSF analysis	Diffuse hypodensity of the white matter/multiple bilateral white matter hemorrhagic foci involving the corpus callosum	Hyperintensity of the white matter/diffuse hemosiderin staining throughout the white matter and the corpus callosum/some cystic hemorrhagic areas within both cerebral hemispheres	None	RT‐PCR	Supportive care	RS, acute kidney injury, DC	Negative	Hypertension, chronic kidney disease, hypercholesterolemia, asthma, obesity	Discharged
Pizzanelli C 44	Italy	January 2021	74	F	Brain MRI, total body PET/TC	Unremarkable	Hyperintensity in the temporal lobes, mild hippocampal thickening	IV methylprednisolone, oral prednisolone	Chest CT, RT‐PCR	Remdesevir, dexamethasone	Fever, RS, seizure, AMS, oral automatism, weakness, ideo‐motor slowing	Negative	None	Discharged
Al Mazrouei SS 1	United Arab Emirates	September 2020	43	M	Head CT, brain MRI	Hypodensity of bilateral thalami	Hyperintensity in the frontal lobes, insula, thalamus and globus pallidus	NM	RT‐PCR, Chest CT	NM	Fever, RS, weakness, fatigue, DC	NP	Diabetes mellitus type2	Death
Sirous R 2	USA	August 2020	50	M	MRI, magnetic resonance angiography, magnetic resonance venography	Mild cerebral generalized parenchymal volume loss with sulcal enlargement	Cerebral edema with mass effect, downward cerebellar tonsillar herniation/compression and displacement of the brainstem and 4th ventricle	NM	RT‐PCR	IV hydroxychloroquine	Fatigue, headache, nausea, vomiting, lethargy, AMS	NP	None	Death
Mardani M 45	Iran	July 2020	64	F	CSF analysis	Unremarkable	NP	NM	RT‐PCR, CSF analysis	IV ceftriaxone, clindamycin, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir	RS, weakness, DC	Positive	Hypertension, ischemic heart disease, metastatic colorectal cancer	NM
Vandervorst F 46	Belgium	July 2020	29	M	Brain MRI	Unremarkable	Hyperintensity of the left temporal cortex/mild gyral expansion	NM	RT‐PCR, chest CT	IV acyclovir, hydroxychloroquine	Weakness, RS, anorexia, Anosmia, ageusia, AMS, short‐term memory deficits, psychiatric symptoms	Negative	None	Discharged
Freire‐Álvarez E 31	Spain	October 2020	39	M	Brain MRI	Unremarkable	Hyperintensity at the cortical and subcortical right frontal regions, right thalamus and mammalary body, temporal lobes and cerebral peduncles	IV immunoglobulin, tocilizumab	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Lopinavir/ritonavir, subcutaneous interferon beta‐1b	Fatigue, DC, malaise, fever, AMS, headache, drowsiness, minimal stiff neck, language disorder, paraphasia	Negative	NM	Clinical improvement, Still hospitalized
Parsons T 47	Germany	May 2020	51	F	Brain MRI, EEG	NP	Hyperintensities in the white matter	Methylprednisolone, IV Immunoglobulin	RT‐PCR, chest CT	NM	RS, fever, vomiting, unresponsiveness, flaccid muscles	Negative	NM	NM
Al‐olama M 48	United Arab Emirates	May 2020	36	M	Brain CT, CT angiography	Hematoma in the right frontal lobe with surrounding edema/extracerebral hemorrhage/cortical swelling/bilateral supratentorial leptomeningeal increased enhancement	NP	NM	PCR	NM	Fever, RS, headache, body pain, diarrhea, vomiting, drowsiness, AMS	NP	None	Still hospitalized
Goodloe TB 49	Alabama	January, 2021	52	M	Bead CT, EEG	Unremarkable	Unremarkable	Vancomycin, ceftriaxone, azithromycin, acyclovir	RT‐PCR	NM	AMS, agitation, fever	NP	Hypertension, diabetes mellitus type2, end‐stage renal disease, coronary artery disease	Discharged
Sattar SBA 23	USA	September 2020	44	M	Brain MRI, head CT, CSF analysis	Few scattered foci of white matter hypo‐attenuation	Abnormal medial cortical signals in the bilateral frontal lobes	NM	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin	Fever, RS, seizure, AMS, unresponsiveness	Positive	None	Discharged
Haider A 29	USA	March 2020	66	M	EEG, brain MRI	Unremarkable	Small lacunar infarcts and a patchy area of bright signals in the cortical and lateral periventricular regions	Tocilizumab, IV immunoglobulin, rituximab	RT‐PCR	NM	Seizure, AMS, behavioral changes	NP	Benign prostatic hypertrophy, fatty liver disease, hypertension	Discharged
Cariddi LP 50	Italy	June, 2020	64	F	Head CT, brain MRI	Bilateral hypodensity of the white matter/a small left occipital parenchymal hemorrhage	Bilateral edema with bilateral occipital foci of subacute hemorrhage	NM	RT‐PCR	Hydroxychloroquine, darunavir/cobicistat	Fever, RS, visual impairment, AMS, drowsiness, reduced tendon reflexes	Negative	Hypertension, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hyperuricemia, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation	Partial recovery
Sofijanova A 51	Republic of Macedonia	November 2020	9 month	NM	Head CT, biochemical blood test	Enlargement of the lateral ventricles, with intraventricular masses, internal hydrocephalus	NP	Anti‐edematous therapy	NM	Cephalosporin, aminoglycoside, antiviral drug	RS, convulsive status, fever, DC, vomiting, seizure	NP	NM	Transferred to another hospital
Ghosh R 11	India	August 2020	44	F	Brain MRI, CSF analysis	NP	T2‐weighted hyperintensity in the parietal lobes with peri‐lesional edema	IV methylprednisolone	RT‐PCR	Ceftriaxone, vancomycin, acyclovir	Myalgia, RS, hypogeusia, hyposmia, AMS, seizure, unconsciousness, reduced tendon refluxes, loss of sphincter control	NP	None	Death
Pilotto A 52	Italy	August, 2020	60	M	EEG, brain MRI, CSF analysis	Unremarkable	Unremarkable	Methylprednisolone	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Ritonavir/lopinavir, hydroxychlroroquine	Fever, RS, cognitive fluctuations, DC, AMS, behavioral changes, asthenia	Negative	None	Discharged
Azab MA 3	Egypt	February, 2021	89	M	MRI, post‐mortem biopsy	NP	Hyperintensity near the basal ganglia and thalami	NM	Serological test	Acyclovir, acetaminophen	Rash, seizure, tremors, RS, cerebellar signs, fever, headache, dizziness, myalgia	NP	NM	Death
Abdi S 53	Iran	June, 2020	58	M	Brain MRI, CSF analysis	NP	Hyperintensity of the white matter/involvement of cortical and deep gray matter and midbrain	IV dexamethasone	RT‐PCR, chest CT	NM	Drowsiness, gait disturbance, DC	Negative	NM	Death
Dharsandiya M 54	India	August, 2020	68	M	Head CT, blood test, CSF analysis	Age‐related cortical atrophy (unremarkable)	NP	Methylprednisolone, tocilizumab	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine, gamma globulin	Fever, RS, renal failure, viral sepsis, autonomic disturbance, AMS, seizure	NP	Diabetes, hypertension	Death
Babar A 55	USA	October, 2020	20	F	Brain MRI, CSF analysis, EEG	Unremarkable	Unremarkable	Methylprednisolone	RT‐PCR	Levofloxacin, acyclovir	RS, ageusia, insomnia, Fever, AMS, psychiatric symptoms	Negative	Obesity, anxiety	Discharged
Virhammar J 56	Sweden	June, 2020	55	F	Head CT, CSF analysis, EEG, brain MRI	Hypodensities in the thalami and midbrain	Hyperintensity in subinsular regions, thalami, and brainstem/involvement of temporal lobes, hippocampi, and cerebral peduncles	IV immunoglobulin	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Acyclovir, plasma exchange	Fever, myalgia, impaired brain stem reflexes, myoclonus, lethargy, DC	Positive	None	Discharged to rehabilitation
Farhadian S 57	USA	June, 2020	78	F	Brain MRI, EEG, CSF analysis	NP	Generalized atrophy/hyperintensity in white matter	NM	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Hydroxychloroquine	Seizure like activity, RS, fever, AMS	Negative	Immunosuppression due to kidney transplantation	Discharged
de Miranda Henriques‐Souza AM 58	Brazil	October, 2020	12	F	Brain and spine MRI, CSF analysis	NP	Bilateral restricted diffusion in the white matter/hyperintensity of the corpus callosum	Methylprednisolone	RT‐PCR	NM	Tetraplegia, fever, deep areflexia, skin rash, headache, RS, acute motor weakness, numbness	Negative	None	Discharged
Afshar H 59	Iran	August 2020	39	F	Brain MRI	NP	Hyperintensities in bilateral thalami, temporal lobes and pons	IV immunoglobulin, IV methylprednisolone	Chest CT	Meropene, levofloxacin, linezolide, hydroxychloroqine, atazanavir, IV immunoglobulin	Fever, myalgia, anorexia, drowsiness, RS, DC, headache, seizure	Negative	None	Discharged
Crosta F 60	Italy	December 2020	79	M	EEG, brain MRI	Unremarkable	Hyperintensity of the left temporal cortex, with mild gyral expansion	NM	RT‐PCR	Clarithromycin, dexamethasone	Fever, AMS, anosmia, RS, ageusia, DC, short‐term memory deficits, psychiatric symptoms	NP	Hypertension, diabetes, chronic heart failure	Discharged
Sangare A 61	France	November 2020	56	M	EEG, brain MRI	NP	Hemorrhagic lesions in the pontine tegmentum and subinsular regions, including corpus callosum	IV methylprednisolone, plasma exchange with albumin	RT‐PCR, chest CT	Cephalosporin linezolide, trimethoprime‐sulfamethoxazole, meropenem aminosid	Fever, RS, reversible acute kidney failure, visual impairment, unresponsiveness	Negative	Hypertension	Discharged
El‐Zein RS 62	USA	September 2020	40	M	EEG, blood tests, CSF analysis	Unremarkable	Unremarkable	IV immunoglobulin	Simplexa SARS‐CoV‐2 assay	Hydroxychloroquine	Fever, fatigue, AMS, RS, psychiatric symptoms, increased agitation	Negative	None	Discharged
Etemadifar M 4	Iran	September 2020	51	M	Head CT, brain MRI	Generalized brain edema/signs of brain herniation	Generalized brain edema, downward herniation of cerebellar tonsils and brainstem, hyperintensities in bilateral cerebral cortices and corpus striatum	NM	RT‐PCR	Hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, IV acyclovir, IV dexamethasone	Headache, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, RS, seizure, cardiac arrest, impaired brain stem reflexes	NP	Hypothyroidism migraine	Death
Peng LV 63	China	February, 2021	90	F	CSF analysis, physical and neurological examination	Unremarkable	NP	Mannitol and anti‑viral therapy (Ganciclovir)	RT‑PCR, Chest CT	NM	Fever, RS, fatigue, unconsciousness, unresponsiveness, increased muscle tension	Negative	Cerebral lacunar infarction with no neurological deficits‐ live in a healthcare unit	Death (irrelevant cause)
Hayashi M 10	Japan	August 2020	75	M	Neurological examination, brain MRI	NP	Hyperintensity in the splenium of corpus callosum	Corticosteroid pulse, meropenem	RT‐PCR	Favipiravir, corticosteroid pulse	Urinary incontinence, diarrhea, DC, cerebellar signs, fever, AMS, tremor, gait disturbance	NP	Mild Alzheimer's disease	Death
Kumar A 64	USA	November 2020	35	F	Brain MRI, EEG, CSF analysis	Unremarkable	Hyperintensity in the white matter involving bilateral cerebral peduncles	Methylprednisolone, IV immunoglobulin, plasma exchange	RT‐PCR, serological tests	NM	Anosmia, ageusia, gait disturbance, neuropathy, weakness, drowsiness, lethargy	Negative	Gastric bypass surgery, anemia	Discharged to a long‐term care facility
Muccioli L 65	Italy	September 2020	47	F	EEG, brain MRI	NP	Hyperintensity in the white matter	Tocilizumab	Chest CT, RT‐PCR	NM	Asthenia, RS, ageusia, hyposmia, language disturbance, pain in the extremities, fever, AMS, headache, agitation	Negative	None	Discharged