Marisol Silva Vera¹*, María de Jesús Jiménez González¹, Marcela Ortega Jiménez¹ and Jorge Alejandro Morales Treviño²

¹University of Guanajuato, Division of Health Sciences and Engineering, Celaya- Salvatierra Campus, Guanajuato, Mexico
²Mexican Social Security Institute, Regional General Hospital No. 58, Internal Medicine Service. Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico

*Corresponding Author: Marisol Silva Vera, University of Guanajuato, Division of Health Sciences and Engineering, Celaya- Salvatierra Campus, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Received: November 02, 2023; Published: November 27, 2023

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 disease can have distinct phases, including a replicative phase of the virus, a phase of lung involvement and an adaptive immune response phase. Some patients may have an excessive inflammatory response, known as a "cytokine storm," which can cause tissue damage and clinical worsening. Older adults are at higher risk of developing severe forms of the disease. Some of the neurological manifestations associated with COVID-19 infection in older adults include central nervous system alterations, neurovascular symptoms, and neuromuscular symptoms, such as muscle weakness and joint pain.

Objective: Identify the neurological manifestations in older adults hospitalized for COVID-19.

Materials and Methods: A quantitative, cross-sectional, non-experimental study, which was carried out in 840 hospitalized elderly adults, from 60 to 95 years of age. The sample selection was non-random and the patients were grouped according to the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases (INER) Classification. Neurological symptoms were evaluated and the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) algorithm was used to identify delirium. Patients with a history of neurological disease and cognitive impairment were excluded.

Results: Neurological manifestations of the CNS occurred in 92.9% of patients. The most common CNS symptoms were headache (85.2%) and dizziness (29.4%). CNS manifestations were more common in older adults with a consolidating tomographic pattern. In patients with PNS manifestations, the most common symptoms were deterioration of taste (52.7%) and deterioration of smell (28.4%), vision deterioration showed significant differences between groups (p ≤ 0.05). The deterioration of taste occurred more frequently in patients with a consolidation tomographic pattern, while the deterioration of smell was more frequent in the Reticular pattern. Regarding the symptoms of the musculoskeletal system, the most common manifestations were asthenia and adynamic, occurring in 100% of the patients.

Conclusions: Our patients presented manifestations of the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system, and the musculoskeletal system. Clinicians should consider SARS-CoV-2 infection as a differential diagnosis when seeing patients with these neurological manifestations to avoid late or misdiagnosis and prevent transmission.

 Keywords: Older Adult; Covid-19; Neurological Manifestations; SARS-CoV-2

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Citation

Citation: Marisol Silva Vera., et al. “Neurological Implications in Elderly COVID-19 Patients Hospitalized in Mexico”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.12 (2023): 47-53.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Marisol Silva Vera., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.