Altered mental status predicts length of stay but not death in a community-based cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: Altered Mental Status (AMS) is a common neurological complication in patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of COVID-19 (Umapathi et al., 2020; Liotta et al., 2020).

Neurological complications of COVID19 during March 2020 at LCMC health university medical center: Dataset.

Unlabelled: We reviewed the electronic medical records (EMR) of patients hospitalized during the peak of the pandemic, March 1st through March 31st, to document the type and frequency of neurological problems seen in patients with COVID-19 at presentation to the emergency room. Secondary aims were to determine: 1) the frequency of neurological complaints during the hospital stay; 2) whether the presence of any neurological complaint at presentation or any of the individual types of neurological complaints at admission predicted three separate outcomes: death, length of hospital stay, or the need for intubation; and 3) if the presence of any neurological complaint or any of the individual types of neurological complaints developed during hospital stay predicted the previous three outcomes.

Setting: The Louisiana Health Sciences Center - New Orleans Institutional Review Board and the University Medical Center Clinical Research Review Committee approved the study protocol.

Neurological complications in a predominantly African American sample of COVID-19 predict worse outcomes during hospitalization.

People with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, COVID-19, can have neurological problems including headache, anosmia, dysgeusia, altered mental status (AMS), ischemic stroke with or without large vessel occlusion, and Guillen-Barre Syndrome. Louisiana was one of the states hit hardest by the pandemic with just over 57,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 by the end of June 2020. We reviewed the electronic medical records (EMR) of patients hospitalized during the peak of the pandemic, March 1st through March 31st, to document the type and frequency of neurological problems seen in patients with COVID-19 at presentation to the emergency room.

Predictive utility of type and duration of symptoms at initial presentation in patients with mild cognitive impairment.

Background/aims: To assess (1) the duration and symptoms present in participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and (2) the impact of these variables on predicting conversion to Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Participants with MCI (n = 148) were assessed and followed systematically.

Results: Decline in memory was reported as the first symptom in 118 of the cases.

The impact of anxiety on conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To compare state and trait anxiety in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients and matched control subjects, and to assess the impact of these variables in predicting conversion to Alzheimer's disease.

Methods: One hundred and forty-eight patients with MCI, broadly defined, were assessed and followed systematically. Baseline predictors for follow-up conversion to AD (entire sample: 39/148 converted to Alzheimer's disease (AD)) included the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).

Rehabilitation pharmacology: bridging laboratory work to clinical application.

Background: Converging lines of evidence indicate the utility of medications for enhancing functional recovery after brain injury.

Methods: Laboratory studies using rats and cats suggest that drugs augmenting noradrenergic function may facilitate recovery after cortical injury, when combined with appropriate environmental experience. This short-term noradrenergic strategy can be initiated months after injury and enhance recovery to a higher ultimate outcome level.