Late peripheral facial paralysis after COVID-19: a rapid systematic review and two case reports.

Peripheral facial paralysis (PFP) has been shown to be a neurological manifestation of COVID-19. The current study presents two cases of PFP after COVID-19, along with a rapid review of known cases in the literature. Both case reports were conducted following CARE guidelines. We also performed a systematic review of PFP cases temporally related to COVID-19 using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases on August 30, 2021, using a rapid review methodology. The two patients experienced PFP 102 and 110 days after COVID-19 symptom onset. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in nasal samples through reverse-transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) testing. Anosmia was the only other neurological manifestation. PFP was treated with steroids in both cases, with complete subsequent recovery. In the rapid review, we identified 764 articles and included 43 studies. From those, 128 patients with PFP were analyzed, of whom 42.1% (54/128) were male, 39.06% (50/128) female, and in 23 cases the gender was not reported. The age range was 18 to 59 (54.68%). The median time between COVID-19 and PFP was three days (ranging from the first symptom of COVID-19 to 40 days after the acute phase of infection). Late PFP associated with COVID-19 presents mild symptoms and improves with time, with no identified predictors. Late PFP should be added to the spectrum of neurological manifestations associated with the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection as a post COVID-19 condition.

Late peripheral facial paralysis after COVID-19: a rapid systematic review and two case reports

Peripheral facial paralysis (PFP) has been shown to be a neurological manifestation of COVID-19. The current study presents two cases of PFP after COVID-19, along with a rapid review of known cases in the literature. Both case reports were conducted following CARE guidelines. We also performed a systematic review of PFP cases temporally related to COVID-19 using PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases on August 30, 2021, using a rapid review methodology. The two patients experienced PFP 102 and 110 days after COVID-19 symptom onset. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in nasal samples through reverse-transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) testing. Anosmia was the only other neurological manifestation. PFP was treated with steroids in both cases, with complete subsequent recovery. In the rapid review, we identified 764 articles and included 43 studies. From those, 128 patients with PFP were analyzed, of whom 42.1% (54/128) were male, 39.06% (50/128) female, and in 23 cases the gender was not reported. The age range was 18 to 59 (54.68%). The median time between COVID-19 and PFP was three days (ranging from the first symptom of COVID-19 to 40 days after the acute phase of infection). Late PFP associated with COVID-19 presents mild symptoms and improves with time, with no identified predictors. Late PFP should be added to the spectrum of neurological manifestations associated with the long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection as a post COVID-19 condition.

Cross-amplification of microsatellite loci in the cacti species from Brazilian Chaco.

Cactaceae species are an important component of the Brazilian Chaco landscape. Sixteen species are reported to this region, including 13 genera representing three Cactaceae subfamilies. All these species are native and have been locally threatened by the advance of the deforestation, which can negatively impact their genetic diversity. In order to test genetic markers that can potentially be used to screen the population diversity of these species, we checked the cross-amplification performance of 27 nuclear and 23 plastid microsatellite loci in all 16 cacti species from Brazilian Chaco. We tested the cross-amplification of the 50 microsatellite (SSR) loci in one specimen of each cacti species and considered it successful when at least one band of the expected size was generated. Thirteen species (81%) had at least 18 nuclear microsatellite loci amplified, while seven species (43%) had at least 11 chloroplast microsatellite loci amplified. We also reviewed current knowledge of SSR studies with Cactaceae in 50 studies available in the Web of Science®, and found that only five cacti species that occur in the Brazilian Chaco have representatives of the same genus with described SSR loci. The high cross-amplification rates indicated that these microsatellites markers can be helpful for future population genetic studies with cacti species from the Brazilian Chaco. Since their diversity levels and gene flow patterns are still poorly known, analyses with universal and transferable markers provide important tools to guide conservation efforts on this highly neglected region.