SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2021
Neuropathologic findings of patients with COVID-19: a systematic review.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characteristics of subarachnoid hemorrhage associated with COVID-19 infection: A systematic review and descriptive analysis.Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association · 2023Pooled it
- Functional brain abnormalities in post COVID-19 condition and their relationship with cognition.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Tetravalent Influenza Vaccine Is Not Associated With Neuroaxonal Damage in Multiple Sclerosis Patients.Frontiers in immunology · 2021Trial
- Anti-SARS-CoV-2 VHH and C7C peptide fused with Angiopep-2 efficiently traverse blood-brain barrier model and neutralizes virus.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Disease-disease interactions: molecular links of neurodegenerative diseases with cancer, viral infections, and type 2 diabetes.Translational neurodegeneration · 2025Review
- Elevated neuroinflammation, autoimmunity, and altered IgG glycosylation profile in the cerebral spinal fluid of severe COVID-19 patients.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Impact on the microstructure of deep gray matter in unvaccinated patients after moderate-to-severe COVID-19: insights from MRI T1 mapping.European radiology experimental · 2025Article
- Immunomodulatory Mechanisms Underlying Neurological Manifestations in Long COVID: Implications for Immune-Mediated Neurodegeneration.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Review
- Clinical outcomes of patients with seizure admitted for COVID-19: Findings from the Philippine CORONA study.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Neuropathological findings in Down syndrome, Alzheimer's disease and control patients with and without SARS-COV-2: preliminary findings.Acta neuropathologica · 2024Article
- Acute neutrophilic vasculitis (leukocytoclasia) in 36 COVID-19 autopsy brains.Diagnostic pathology · 2024Article
- Regulation of Inflammation by IRAK-M Pathway Can Be Associated with nAchRalpha7 Activation and COVID-19.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Review
- Gastrointestinal Tract and Kidney Injury Pathogenesis in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome.Current diabetes reviews · 2024Review
- Microglia at the blood brain barrier in health and disease.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2024Review
- Catatonia after COVID-19 infection: scoping review.BJPsych bulletin · 2023Article
- [Headache associated with COVID-19 vaccination: how to classify?]Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2023Article
- Long-Term Effects of SARS-CoV-2 in the Brain: Clinical Consequences and Molecular Mechanisms.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Review
- Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Infection in Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women: Results from The Philippine CORONA Study.Vaccines · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite the expanding literature that discusses insights into the clinical picture and mechanisms by which the SARS-CoV-2 virus invades the nervous system, data on the neuropathologic findings of patients who died following SARS-CoV-2 infection is limited.
methodsA broad literature search was done for published articles that reported on histopathological findings of the brain in patients with COVID-19 in PubMed by MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL by the Cochrane Library, and SCOPUS from December 31, 2019 to October 31, 2020.
resultsThe systematic literature search strategy used resulted in a total of 1608 articles of which 14 were included in the analysis (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020221022). There were ten case series, two case reports, one retrospective cohort, and one prospective cohort. The age of the patients ranged between 38 and 90 years old, most of them older than 65 years old (n=66, 45.2%) and males (n=79, 54.1%). Most tested negative in SARS-CoV-2 immunohistochemistry (n=70, 47.9%). The striking pathologic changes included diffuse edema (n=25, 17.1%), gliosis with diffuse activation of microglia and astrocytes (n=52, 35.6%), infarctions involving cortical and subcortical areas of the brain (n=4, 2.7%), intracranial bleed (subarachnoid hemorrhage and punctate hemorrhages) (n=18, 12.4%), arteriosclerosis (n=43, 29.5%), hypoxic-ischemic injury (n=41, 28.1%), and signs of inflammation (n=52, 35.6%). The cause of death was attributed to the cardiorespiratory system (n=66, 45.2%).
conclusionsThe neuropathologic changes observed likely represent direct cytopathic effects and indirect effects secondary to host-specific inflammatory response induced by the viral infection. Further studies however are required to better elucidate the pathologic mechanism.
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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.