Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) usually leads to a mild infectious disease course in children, while serious complications may occur in conjunction with both acute infection and neurological symptoms, which have been predominantly reported in adults. The neurological complications in these patients vary based on patient age and underlying comorbidities. Data on clinical features, particularly neurological features, and prognostic factors in children and adolescents are limited. This study provides a concise overview of neurological complications in pediatric COVID-19 cases. Materials and methods The retrospective study reviewed medical records of all patients who were admitted to our hospital and were diagnosed with COVID-19 by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase-chain-reaction (RT–PCR) assay between 11 March 2020 and 30 January 2021. Patients with a positive PCR result were categorized into two groups: outpatient departments patients and inpatient departments (IPD). Results Of the 2530 children who underwent RT–PCR during the study period, 382 (8.6%) were confirmed as COVID-19 positive, comprising 188 (49.2%) girls and 194 (50.8%) boys with a mean age of 7.14±5.84 (range, 0–17) years. Neurological complications that required hospitalization were present in 34 (8.9%) patients, including seizure (52.9%), headache (38.2%), dizziness (11.1%) and meningoencephalitis (5.8%). Conclusion The results indicated that neurological manifestations are not rare in children suffering from COVID-19. Seizures, headaches, dizziness, anosmia, ageusia and meningoencephalitis are major neurological manifestations during acute COVID-19 disease. Although seizures were the most common cause of hospitalization in IPD patients, the frequency of meningoencephalitis was quite high. Seizures were observed as febrile seizures for children under 6 years of age and afebrile seizures for those over 6 years of age. Febrile seizure accounted for half of all seizure children.

中文翻译：

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小儿急性 COVID 感染的神经学表现：单一中心的经验

背景 2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 通常会导致儿童出现轻微的传染病病程，而严重的并发症可能与急性感染和神经系统症状一起发生，这些症状主要发生在成人身上。这些患者的神经系统并发症因患者年龄和潜在合并症而异。儿童和青少年的临床特征，尤其是神经学特征和预后因素的数据有限。本研究简要概述了儿科 COVID-19 病例的神经系统并发症。材料与方法 本回顾性研究回顾了 2020 年 3 月 11 日至 1 月 30 日期间所有入院并通过实时逆转录聚合酶链反应 (RT-PCR) 检测诊断为 COVID-19 的患者的病历2021. PCR结果阳性的患者分为两组：门诊患者和住院部（IPD）。结果 在研究期间接受 RT-PCR 的 2530 名儿童中，382 名 (8.6%) 被确认为 COVID-19 阳性，包括 188 名 (49.2%) 名女孩和 194 名 (50.8%) 名男孩，平均年龄为 7.14±5.84 （范围，0-17）年。34 名 (8.9%) 患者出现需要住院的神经系统并发症，包括癫痫发作 (52.9%)、头痛 (38.2%)、头晕 (11.1%) 和脑膜脑炎 (5.8%)。结论 结果表明，在患有 COVID-19 的儿童中，神经系统表现并不罕见。癫痫发作、头痛、头晕、嗅觉丧失、听力丧失和脑膜脑炎是急性 COVID-19 疾病期间的主要神经系统表现。尽管癫痫发作是 IPD 患者住院的最常见原因，但脑膜脑炎的发生率相当高。6 岁以下儿童为高热惊厥，6 岁以上儿童为无热惊厥。热性惊厥占所有惊厥儿童的一半。尽管癫痫发作是 IPD 患者住院的最常见原因，但脑膜脑炎的发生率相当高。6 岁以下儿童为高热惊厥，6 岁以上儿童为无热惊厥。热性惊厥占所有惊厥儿童的一半。尽管癫痫发作是 IPD 患者住院的最常见原因，但脑膜脑炎的发生率相当高。6 岁以下儿童为高热惊厥，6 岁以上儿童为无热惊厥。热性惊厥占所有惊厥儿童的一半。