Name – American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting (AAN 2021) (April 17 – April 22, 2021)
Mode – Virtual
A retrospective study conducted on COVID-19 patients, found a three times higher risk of novel seizures in those without a known history of epilepsy. Patients with new-onset seizures had longer hospital stays by 15 days and higher mortality rates. 917 patients included in the study were COVID positive and had received an anti-epileptic medication. 451 patients had a history of epilepsy while 466 patients did not have a history of epilepsy. 27% of the patients without a history of epilepsy demonstrated new onset seizures whereas 11% of the patients having a history of epilepsy experienced a breakthrough seizure. The mortality rate was significantly higher with those who experienced novel seizures than who did not experience such seizures (29% vs 23%; OR, 1.4; P = .045). It is hypothesised that proinflammatory cytokine storms in COVID-19 may increase the rate of apoptosis neuronal necrosis and glutamate concentrations further, disrupting the blood-brain barrier. Another mechanism could be that infection by SARS-CoV-2 could lead to hypoxia and abnormal coagulation further causing stroke and increasing the risk for seizures. Subsequent research is needed to avoid the misdiagnosis of subclinical seizures as encephalopathy in COVID-19 patients.
