Delirium and encephalopathy in severe COVID-19: a cohort analysis of ICU patients
subject: ICU, covid-19, Delirium, encephalopathy, MRI
description: Abstract Background Neurotropism of SARS-CoV-2 and its neurological manifestations have now been confirmed. We aimed at describing delirium and neurological symptoms of COVID-19 in ICU patients. Methods We conducted a bicentric cohort study in two French ICUs of Strasbourg University Hospital. All the 150 patients referred for acute respiratory distress syndrome due to SARS-CoV-2 between March 3 and May 5, 2020, were included at their admission. Ten patients (6.7%) were excluded because they remained under neuromuscular blockers during their entire ICU stay. Neurological examination, including CAM-ICU, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis, electroencephalography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed in some of the patients with delirium and/or abnormal neurological examination. The primary endpoint was to describe the incidence of delirium and/or abnormal neurological examination. The secondary endpoints were to describe the characteristics of delirium, to compare the duration of invasive mechanical ventilation and ICU length of stay in patients with and without delirium and/or abnormal neurological symptoms. Results The 140 patients were aged in median of 62 [IQR 52; 70] years old, with a median SAPSII of 49 [IQR 37; 64] points. Neurological examination was normal in 22 patients (15.7%). One hundred eighteen patients (84.3%) developed a delirium with a combination of acute attention, awareness, and cognition disturbances. Eighty-eight patients (69.3%) presented an unexpected state of agitation despite high infusion rates of sedative treatments and neuroleptics, and 89 (63.6%) patients had corticospinal tract signs. Brain MRI performed in 28 patients demonstrated enhancement of subarachnoid spaces in 17/28 patients (60.7%), intraparenchymal, predominantly white matter abnormalities in 8 patients, and perfusion abnormalities in 17/26 patients (65.4%). The 42 electroencephalograms mostly revealed unspecific abnormalities or diffuse, especially bifrontal, sl…
creator: Julie Helms, Hamid Merdji, Raphaël Clere-Jehl, Ferhat Meziani, Stéphane Kremer, Malika Schenck, François Severac, Antoine Studer, Mirjana Radosavljevic, Christine Kummerlen, Alexandra Monnier, Clotilde Boulay, Samira Fafi-Kremer, Vincent Castelain, Mickaël Ohana, Mathieu Anheim, Francis Schneider
source: Epidemiology and Health
publisher: Korean Society of Epidemiology
date: 2020
coverage: Medical emergencies. Critical care. Intensive care. First aid