Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)-Related Disseminated Leukoencephalopathy: A Retrospective Study of Findings on Brain MRI
Colbey W. Freeman, Jonathan Masur, Alvand Hassankhani, Ronald L. Wolf, Joshua M. Levine, Suyash Mohan
Abstract
Among 2820 inpatients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), 59 (2.1%) underwent brain MRI. Of them, six (10.2%) had MRI findings suspicious for COVID-19-related disseminated leukoencephalopathy (CRDL), which is characterized by extensive confluent or multifocal white matter lesions (with characteristics and locations atypical for other causes), microhemorrhages, diffusion restriction, and enhancement. CRDL is an uncommon but important differential consideration in patients with neurologic manifestations of COVID-19.
Topics & Concepts
MedicineCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)LeukoencephalopathyWhite matterSevere acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy2019-20 coronavirus outbreakPathologyDifferential diagnosisMagnetic resonance imagingDiffusion MRIDiseaseRadiologyMultiple sclerosisInfectious disease (medical specialty)ImmunologyOutbreakLong-Term Effects of COVID-19Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsInfectious Encephalopathies and Encephalitis