Case series/case reports (Indigo)
The aim of this study, recently published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 by recording clinical presentations, laboratory characteristics and management/outcomes of a series of neurological patients who consecutively presented at the emergency department (ED) during the peak of the epidemic. The study was carried out in a tertiary referral neurological centre, the first Italian neuro-COVID unit, identified as a hub for stroke and neurological emergencies independently from SARS-CoV-2 status, in an area of more than 1 200 000 people. The authors found that about a third of neurological patients assessed at the ED were positive for SARS-CoV-2 and that these were characterised by an increased frequency of cerebrovascular events and encephalitis. Moreover, in this series, neurological patients with COVID-19 had an unfavourable outcome as shown by increased rates of hospitalisation, high rate of mortality and higher disability at discharge.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2020-323929
