Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32546654›Full record

ArticleNeurology2020

Early postmortem brain MRI findings in COVID-19 non-survivors.

Tim Coolen, Valentina Lolli, Niloufar Sadeghi, Antonin Rovai, Nicola Trotta, Fabio Silvio Taccone, Jacques Creteur, Sophie Henrard, Jean-Christophe Goffard, Olivier Dewitte and 3 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Neurology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 163 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
163citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
20.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

163 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 255 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Stroke as a Neurological Complication of COVID-19: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Incidence, Outcomes and Predictors.Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association · 2021
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  10. Neurological manifestations of coronavirus infections - a systematic review.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2020
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  20. Mechanisms of COVID-19-associated olfactory dysfunction.Neuropathology and applied neurobiology · 2024
    Review

103 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tim CoolenFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-5034-9265
Valentina LolliFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Niloufar SadeghiFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Antonin RovaiFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Nicola TrottaFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Fabio Silvio TacconeFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Jacques CreteurFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Sophie HenrardFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Jean-Christophe GoffardFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.ORCID 0000-0002-2730-7673
Olivier DewitteFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Gilles NaeijeFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Serge GoldmanFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.
Xavier De TiègeFrom the Department of Radiology (T.C., V.L., N.S.), Department of Nuclear Medicine (A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), Intensive Care Unit (F.S.T., J.C.), Department of Internal Medicine (S.H., J.-C.G.), Department of Neurosurgery (O.D.W.), and Department of Neurology (G.N.), CUB Hôpital Erasme, and Laboratoire de Cartographie fonctionnelle du Cerveau (T.C., V.L., A.R., N.T., S.G., X.D.T.), UNI-ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. xdetiege@ulb.ac.be.
Norwegian Womens Public Health Association · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is considered to have potential neuroinvasiveness that might lead to acute brain disorders or contribute to respiratory distress in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study investigates the occurrence of structural brain abnormalities in non-survivors of COVID-19 in a virtopsy framework.

methodsIn this prospective, monocentric, case series study, consecutive patients who fulfilled the following inclusion criteria benefited from an early postmortem structural brain MRI: death <24 hours, SARS-CoV-2 detection on nasopharyngeal swab specimen, chest CT scan suggestive of COVID-19, absence of known focal brain lesion, and MRI compatibility.

resultsAmong the 62 patients who died of COVID-19 from March 31, 2020, to April 24, 2020, at our institution, 19 decedents fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Parenchymal brain abnormalities were observed in 4 decedents: subcortical microbleeds and macrobleeds (2 decedents), cortico-subcortical edematous changes evocative of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES; 1 decedent), and nonspecific deep white matter changes (1 decedent). Asymmetric olfactory bulbs were found in 4 other decedents without downstream olfactory tract abnormalities. No brainstem MRI signal abnormality was observed.

conclusionsPostmortem brain MRI demonstrates hemorrhagic and PRES-related brain lesions in non-survivors of COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2-related olfactory impairment seems to be limited to olfactory bulbs. Brainstem MRI findings do not support a brain-related contribution to respiratory distress in COVID-19.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overBetacoronavirusBrainBrain EdemaCerebral HemorrhageCoronavirus InfectionsCOVID-19Diffusion Magnetic Resonance ImagingFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedOlfactory BulbPandemics

Identifiers

PMID32546654
OpenAlexW3035385080

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.