SynthesisCritical care (London, England)2020
Neurological manifestations of COVID-19: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Critical care (London, England), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 108 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
108 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 205 citations in OpenAlex.
- Long-Term Complications of Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children and Adults Post-COVID-19: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of systemic complications of COVID-19 in critically ill patients: systematic review with meta-analysis.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2025Pooled it
- Neurological manifestations of COVID-19: a systematic review and detailed comprehension.The International journal of neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Genetics of COVID-19 and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2022Pooled it
- Neuroimaging findings of brain MRI and CT in patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.European journal of radiology · 2020Pooled it
- Beyond Surgical Injury: Systemic Etiologies of Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve Palsy.In vivo (Athens, Greece)Pooled it
- Review
- COVID-19-associated neurological and psychological manifestations.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2025Review
- Encephalopathy and central nervous system symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019: a case series from northern India.Encephalitis (Seoul, Korea) · 2025Article
- Acute Cerebellitis Following COVID-19: Alarming Clinical Presentation Challenged by Normal Paraclinical Findings.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2024Article
- Understanding public perceptions and discussions on diseases involving chronic pain through social media: cross-sectional infodemiology study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Article
- Review
- Clinical Variables Associated With Impaired Consciousness in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2024Article
- Use of a Data Repository to Identify Delirium as a Presenting Symptom of COVID-19 Infection in Hospitalized Adults: Cross-Sectional Cohort Pilot Study.JMIR aging · 2023Article
- Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein and Its Receptor Binding Domain Stimulate Release of Different Pro-Inflammatory Mediators via Activation of Distinct Receptors on Human Microglia Cells.Molecular neurobiology · 2023Article
- Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy in Adult Patients With COVID-19: A Systematic Review of Case Reports and Case Series.Journal of clinical neurology (Seoul, Korea) · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spontaneous reporting and signal detection of adverse drug events.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Acute cerebellitis following COVID-19 vaccination: A case report.Clinical case reports · 2023Article
- COVID-19 in the nervous system: physiopathology and neurological manifestations.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2023Review
48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the global spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Our understanding of the impact this virus has on the nervous system is limited. Our review aims to inform and improve decision-making among the physicians treating COVID-19 by presenting a systematic analysis of the neurological manifestations experienced within these patients.
methodsAny study, released prior to May 20, 2020, that reported neurological manifestations in patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 was systematically reviewed using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systemic review and Meta-Analysis) statement.
resultsOur systematic review included data from 37 articles: twelve retrospective studies, two prospective studies, and the rest case reports/series. The most commonly reported neurological manifestations of COVID-19 were myalgia, headache, altered sensorium, hyposmia, and hypogeusia. Uncommonly, COVID-19 can also present with central nervous system manifestations such as ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, encephalo-myelitis, and acute myelitis, peripheral nervous manifestations such as Guillain-Barré syndrome and Bell's palsy, and skeletal muscle manifestations such as rhabdomyolysis.
conclusionWhile COVID-19 typically presents as a self-limiting respiratory disease, it has been reported in up to 20% of patients to progress to severe illness with multi-organ involvement. The neurological manifestations of COVID-19 are not uncommon, but our study found most resolve with treatment of the underlying infection. Although the timeliness of this review engages current challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, readers must not ignore the limitations and biases intrinsic to an early investigation.
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Registered trials
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.