Neurological manifestations in patients with symptomatic COVID-19 admitted to the Bafoussam Regional Hospital, Cameroon

INTRODUCTION: although the main manifestations of COVID-19 are respiratory, several neurological symptoms and complications have also been reported. The pandemic seems to have some epidemiological specificities in sub-Saharan Africa, and this may be reflected in the type and frequency of neurological symptoms. This study aimed to report neurological manifestations associated with symptomatic COVID-19 in a sub-Saharan African setting. METHODS: we conducted a retrospective review of symptomatic PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases admitted to the Bafoussam Regional Hospital between March and September 2020. Patients’ files were reviewed at discharge by a consultant neurologist. Socio-demographic characteristics, co-morbidities, symptoms on admission, neurological symptoms during hospitalization, management, and in-hospital outcome were recorded. Comparisons between patients with and without neurological symptoms were performed using Fisher’s exact and Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: we enrolled 177 symptomatic patients (68% men). Mean age was 54.6 ± 17.8 years (range 2-99 years). Co-morbidities were present in 57.6% of patients, including hypertension (27.1%) and diabetes mellitus (25.4%). Neurological symptoms were found in 113 (63.8%) patients. The most frequent were headache (39.0%), myalgia (35.6%), anosmia (11.9%), impaired consciousness (10.7%) and delirium (5.6%). Regarding the presenting symptoms, fever was more frequent in patients with neurological symptoms than in those without (81.4% versus 50.0%, p< 0.001), while digestive symptoms were less frequent in patients with neurological symptoms (0.9% versus 9.4%, p= 0.004). CONCLUSION: neurological manifestations are frequent and heterogeneous in patients with symptomatic COVID-19. Further studies are needed to clarify the pathophysiology of neurological symptoms in COVID-19 and their impact on patients’ long-term outcome.