Acta Medica Mediterranea, 2020, 36: 3773 NEUROLOGICAL MANIFESTATIONS OF SARS-COV-2 INFECTION AMONG HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS Ahmet Levent Aydin 1 , hAci ALi erdogAn 2 , nomin BoLd 3 , hABip gedik 3 , viLdAn Ayse yAyLA 2 , ozLem ALtuntAs Aydin 3 , kAdriye kArt yAsAr 3 1 Koc University Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey - 2 University of Health Sciences, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey - 3 University of Health Sciences, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Istanbul, Turkey ABSTRACT Introduction: Neurological symptoms in SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) infected patients and the course of COVID-19 in patients with neurological fndings are determined. Material and methods: Inpatient cases aged ≥18 years, followed-up in clinical services for COVID-19 diagnosis are studied. Patients were visited on 04.20.2020 and examined for central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nervous system (PNS) manifestations and muscular injury, from onset of symptoms to hospitalization. Risk factors associated with the severity of COVID-19 and the comparison of variables in terms of existence of neurological fndings including CNS and PNS fndings were performed. Results: Overall, 133 (54%) of the 242 patients of the study were male, mean age was 56.82±16.35 (18–91) years. Of these, 128 (52%) cases were defned as severe COVID-19. Outstanding symptoms at the onset were cough (62.8%), fever (46.7%), dyspnea (45.9%), and tiredness (31%). Further, 82 (33.9%) cases showed neurological fndings at the frst admission. Of those with neurological symptoms, 25.6% had CNS, 16.1% had PNS, 1.7% had muscular symptoms. In patients with CNS manifestations, the most common symptoms were headache (20.6%) and dizziness (7.4%). Impaired taste was the most common manifestation of PNS (11.2%). Neurological symptoms showed no signifcant difference between severe and non-severe COVID-19 groups except impaired taste (signifcantly higher in non-severe group). During follow-up, 17 (7%) patients needed intensive care unit. Nine (3.6%) patients died. Conclusion: Frequency and variety of neurological fndings in COVID-19 cases is too high to underestimate. Early diagnosis of these fndings may prevent spread of COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, neurological manifestations. DOI: 10.19193/0393-6384_2020_6_598 Introduction Coronaviruses are important pathogens that of- ten cause respiratory and enteric diseases in humans and animals. In early December 2019, reviews on a number of unexplained severe cases of atypical pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei, China, indicated that this causative agent of pneumonia is a new type of corona virus, and it was named as severe acute respiratory syndrome CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The clinical picture caused by this new agent was defned as Coronavirus disease 2019 (COV - ID-19), and COVID-19 cases have been reported in many regions around the world. On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a pandemic. Presently, nearly 12 million COVID-19 cases have been identifed in the world (1,2) . SARS-CoV-2 invades human respiratory epi- thelial cells via its S-proteins and angiotensin-con- verting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors on alveolar Received June 30, 2020; Accepted Octomber 20, 2020