Neurological manifestations of COVID-19 infection: an umbrella review

BACKGROUND: Neurological involvements of COVID-19 are one of the most reported manifestations of this infection. This study aims to systematically review the previous systematic reviews which addressed the neurological manifestations of the COVID-19 infection. METHODS: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science databases and Google Scholar from December 2019 to December 2020. Articles were critically screened by two independent reviewers and if met the inclusion criteria, entered the study. Assessment of methodological quality was conducted by Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews-2 (AMSTAR-2) tool. Statistical analysis was not applicable. From a total of 1302 studies, 308 studies were removed due to their irrelevant title and abstract. After screening the full texts, a total of 66 found to be eligible. Twenty-one studies reported general manifestations of the COVID-19, 13 studies reported cerebrovascular events, 19 olfactory and oral dysfunctions, 5 systematic reviews on Guillen–Barré syndrome (GBS) and 8 articles on the sporadic manifestations like ocular signs and symptoms. The majority of the studies were classified as critically low or low in terms of quality. CONCLUSION: Despite great heterogeneity in the current literature, neurological involvements are an important extra-pulmonary aspect of the COVID-19; most commonly in the form of general manifestations like headache and olfactory disturbances. Long-term effects of this virus on the nervous system must be a research priority for future references. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s41983-021-00366-5.