HP37: Critical illness polyneuropathy in COVID-19 patients: A case-control study

Introduction: The coronavirus SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) could cause damage to neural tissue. This injury is responsible for neuromuscular disturbance after the onset of respiratory symptoms in these patients. Objective: is to analyze the characteristics of all patients diagnosed with critical illness polyneuropathy (CIP) reported from March 2020 to March 2021 in the Clinical Neurophysiology Department from La Princesa University Hospital. Methods: Patients were classified into two groups 17 patients admitted to the hospital with confirmed COVID-19 (Cases Group, CaG) and 12 patients without COVID-19 infection (Control Group, CoG). We performed both electroneurography and electromyography. Results: The distribution of the subtypes of the CIP was as follows: axonal motor polyneuropathy (24% in CaG vs 25% in CoG), axonal sensorimotor polyneuropathy (35% in CaG vs 58% in CoG), and mixed sensorimotor polyneuropathy (41% in CaG vs 16% in CoG). Needle EMG showed spontaneous activity in 100% in CaG vs 75% in CoG. The days of hospitalisation were 64.8 ± 7.9 in the CaG and 54.5 ± 9.9 in the CoG. Favourable evolution was observed in the 35% in CaG vs 42% in CoG, and unfavourable evolution was observed in the 41% in CaG vs 33% in CoG. Conclusion: We highlighted the nerves damaged in patients infected by COVID-19 and admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Viral neuropathy is thought to be primarily axonal; however, we observe a high prevalence of demyelinating injuries in patients affected with this infection. Considering these results, we focus on the importance of early neurorehabilitation to improve nerve function.