preprints.org > medicine and pharmacology > orthopedics and sports medicine > doi: 10.20944/preprints202008.0618.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 26 August 2020 / Approved: 27 August 2020 / Online: 27 August 2020 (12:24:18 CEST)

It is not established whether SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) patients with movement disorders, are at greater risk for more serious outcomes than the larger COVID-19 population beyond the susceptibility associated with greater age. We reviewed electronic health records and conducted telephone interviews to collect the demographics and clinical outcomes of patients seen at our Movement Disorders Center who tested positive for COVID-19 from 8 March 2020 through 6 June 2020. Thirty-six patients were identified, 23 men and 13 women, median age of 74.5 years. They primarily carried diagnoses of idiopathic Parkinson disease (n=22; 61%) and atypical parkinsonism (n=7; 19%) with the balance having other diagnoses. Twenty-seven patients (75%) exhibited alteration in mental status and fifteen (42%) had abnormalities of movement as common manifestations of COVID-19; in 61% and 31%, these were the presenting symptoms of the disease. 67% of patients in our cohort required hospitalization, and the mortality rate was 39%.. These data demonstrate that in patients with movement disorders, the likelihood of hospitalization and death after contracting COVID-19 was substantially greater than in the general population. Patients with movement disorders frequently presented with altered mental status, generalized weakness, or worsening mobility but not anosmia.

coronavirus; COVID-19; neurology; movement disorders; ataxia; Parkinson disease

Medicine and Pharmacology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

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