Neurologic imaging of COVID-19 patients in a tertiary referral hospital in the Philippines: A retrospective study

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND@#Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a recently discovered disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome COV2 virus (SARS COV-2) that led to a global pandemic. COVID-19, with its rapid spread, proved to be a global threat to health. Although it is known to mainly cause respiratory symptoms, neurologic sequelae have also been reported in a growing number of patients. @*OBJECTIVES@#This study aims to provide additional evidence regarding neuro-radiographic findings among Filipino patients inflicted with COVID-19. @*METHODOLOGY@#This paper is an analytical, retrospective study of COVID-19 confirmed patients who presented with neurologic manifestation and underwent cranial CT scans between April 2020 and April 2021 at Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center. @*RESULTS@#A total of 22 patients were included in the study. Of these, 11 had acute infarcts, 5 had cerebral hemorrhage, 1 had cerebral venous thrombosis, and 5 had normal imaging findings. Fisher's test was done and revealed a significant difference between COVID-19 severity and abnormal CT scan findings. @*CONCLUSION@#Although relatively uncommon, the study showed that there is an increased incidence of abnormal neuroimaging findings among patients with COVID-19. The most common of which is cerebral infarction followed by macrohemorrhages. The severity of the disease is correlated with the increased incidence of abnormal neuroimaging findings among COVID-19 patients.