Although children tolerate coronavirus infection more easily than adults, in rare cases, they develop dangerous neurological syndromes. As shown by an international expert review published in The Lancet, young patients who have had COVID-19 may have brain damage (up to a stroke), nervous tissue and spine. The study of 38 children with these symptoms was the largest to date description of the effect of the virus on the children’s central nervous system. Scientists were able to recognize these manifestations only with the help of MRI.
In many cases, the researchers observed abnormal spinal nerve root tension that was only detectable on MRI, the study said. The children also developed myelitis (inflammation of the spinal cord), which in rare cases led to paralysis. Of the 38 young patients examined, four eventually died from CNS pathologies caused by COVID-19. Four children developed thromboischemic disease, and one child developed a stroke with multiple cerebral hemorrhages.
A number of young patients may have disorders of the nervous system in the form of seizures, varying degrees of depression of consciousness, the development of cerebrovasculitis, encephalitis, Oksana Zagilova, a neurologist at the Medsi children’s clinic, told Izvestia.
“All these disorders appear when the immune system begins to attack the nerve cells of its own body. This is due to hypoxemia (insufficient oxygen in the blood. – “Izvestia”), disorders of homeostasis (hematopoiesis. – “Izvestia”), neurotropicity (the ability to affect neurons. – “Izvestia”) SARS-CoV-2, which leads to muscle weakness, and in severe cases – to paralysis, ”said the expert.
The activity of the blood coagulation system increases. That is why the likelihood of thrombosis increases, which, in turn, can lead to a stroke or heart attack, the specialist explained.
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COVID anomaly: children may have a stroke after coronavirus