Page 71 - Coespu 2020-2

tients, suggesting that delirium was small sample this diagnosis appe- bility, irritability, pressured spe-
common. Other common psychia- ared to be almost entirely related ech, and euphoria were relati-
tric fi ndings were depression, to use of exogenous corticoste- vely common, suggesting that
anxiety, and insomnia. Diagnoses roids, which are rarely prescribed although a full syndrome of mania
of mania and psychosis did occur to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. was uncommon, not detectable
in a small minority (0·7%), but in a Notably, insomnia, emotional la- symptoms might be present.
In SARS and MERS, after recovery
from the infection, sleep disorder,
frequent recall of traumatic me-
mories, emotional lability, impai-
red concentration, fatigue, and
impaired memory were reported
in more than 15% of patients at a
follow-up period ranging between
6 weeks and 39 months. Emotio-
nal lability, pressured speech, and
euphoria were only reported by
patients and relatives after a short
follow-up in one studying whi-
ch corticosteroids had frequent-
ly been prescribed at high doses
and symptoms; therefore, it mi-
ght be of limited relevance to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The point
prevalences of anxiety disorders,
depression, and post-traumatic
stress disorder were high, although
the lack of adequate comparison
groups or assessment of previous
psychiatric disorder means that it
is hard to separate the effects of
the infection from the impact of
an epidemic on the population.
In terms of severity, mean sco-
res for depression and anxiety on
standard scales were below clini-
cal cutoffs. Measures of health-re-
lated quality of life were conside-
rably lower in patients with SARS
than in control groups. However,
the impairment in social functio-
ning was greater than the effects
Image 2. Acute encephalopathy. A 60 year-old-man without history of seizures presenting with convulsion. (A-B) Multifocal areas of FLAIR hyperintensi- on mental health, suggesting that
ty in the right cerebellum (arrows in A), left anterior cingular cortex and superior frontal gyrus (arrows in B). (C-D) Restricted diffusion in the left anterior the effect of coronaviruses is broad
cingulate cortex, superior frontal and middle temporal gyrus (arrows in D) and right cerebellum (arrows in E), consistent with cerebellar diaschisis. F) and not specifi c to mental health.
No hemosiderin deposits in Gradient echo sequences. (Imaging in Neurological Disease of Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: An Italian Multicenter In terms of applicability to CO-
Retrospective Observational Study VID-19, conclusions must be cau-
Abdelkader Mahammedi, Luca Saba, Achala Vagal, Michela Leali, Andrea Rossi, Mary Gaskill, Soma Sengupta, Bin Zhang, Alessandro Carriero, tious because data on the acute ef-
Suha Bachir, Paola Crivelli, Alessio Paschè, Enrico Premi, Alessandro Padovani, and Roberto Gasparotti https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/ra- fects of the illness are limited and
diol.2020201933) no data exist on the post-illness

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