New-Onset Seizure With Possible Limbic Encephalitis in a Patient With COVID-19 Infection: A Case Report and Review

J Investig Med High Impact Case Rep. 2021 Jan-Dec:9:2324709620986302. doi: 10.1177/2324709620986302.

Abstract

With the outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) as a global pandemic, various of its neurological manifestations have been reported. We report a case of a 54-year-old male with new-onset seizure who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 from a nasopharyngeal swab sample. Investigative findings, which included contrast-enhancing right posterior temporal lobe T2-hyperintensity on brain magnetic resonance imaging, right-sided lateralized periodic discharges on the electroencephalogram, and elevated protein level on cerebrospinal fluid analysis, supported the diagnosis of possible encephalitis from COVID-19 infection. The findings in this case are placed in the context of the existing literature.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; encephalitis; review; seizure.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Brain / diagnostic imaging*
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology*
  • Comorbidity
  • Electroencephalography
  • Humans
  • Limbic Encephalitis / complications
  • Limbic Encephalitis / epidemiology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pandemics*
  • SARS-CoV-2*
  • Seizures / diagnosis
  • Seizures / etiology*