Children who tested positive for COVID-19 face high risk of stroke, study claims

April 15, 2021  13:34

A new study, published in The Lancet, has shown that children who have had COVID-19 can experience life-threatening brain pathologies, including cerebrovasculitis, encephalitis, and stroke.

Scientists from the United States and the United Kingdom have discovered young patients with disorders of the central nervous system (encephalopathy), which were caused by a previous coronavirus infection. Neuroradiologists, neurologists, and pediatricians analyzed the data on MRI, plasma, and cerebrospinal fluid, after which the children were divided into groups according to the time of the alleged infection with SARS-CoV-2. The authors of the study excluded those cases in which it was impossible to establish a direct connection with the coronavirus infection or an alternative diagnosis can be assumed.

The specialists managed to find 38 patients with neurological diseases associated with COVID-19. Central nervous system disorders ranged from mild to very severe. The most common were disseminated encephalomyelitis-like changes in the brain mediated by the action of the immune system (in 16 children) and myelitis (in 8 children). Although cerebrovascular complications were less common in children than in adults, and most patients had a favorable outcome, four previously healthy children died of thromboischemic disease, and one developed a stroke with multiple cerebral hemorrhages.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter


 
  • Video
 
 
  • Event calendar
 
 
  • Archive