A case of mild encephalitis associated with COVID-19

Kentaro Nagae; Mizuki Haraguchi; Takashi Sakoh; Keiko Ishida; Sho Ogura; Masayo Katoh-Morishima; Hideki Araoka

doi:10.1002/jgf2.646

A case of mild encephalitis associated with COVID-19

J Gen Fam Med. 2023 Aug 25;24(5):307-310. doi: 10.1002/jgf2.646. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Kentaro Nagae^{1

2}, Mizuki Haraguchi^{1

3}, Takashi Sakoh¹, Keiko Ishida¹, Sho Ogura¹, Masayo Katoh-Morishima¹, Hideki Araoka^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infectious Diseases Toranomon Hospital Tokyo Japan.
² Department of Medical Education Toranomon Hospital Tokyo Japan.
³ Okinaka Memorial Institute for Medical Research Tokyo Japan.

Abstract

We report a case of mild encephalitis/encephalopathy with a reversible splenial lesion (MERS) in a 31-year-old man. He had been diagnosed with mild COVID-19 3 days earlier and presented to the emergency department with altered mental status. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a high-intensity area confined to the splenium of the corpus callosum on diffusion-weighted imaging, which is consistent with MERS. MERS is characterized by a reversible change in the splenium of the corpus callosum. MERS secondary to COVID-19 has been reported recently. It is important to consider MERS in COVID-19 patients with impaired consciousness.

Keywords: COVID‐19; SARS‐Cov‐2; cytotoxic lesions of the corpus callosum; mild encephalitis with a reversible splenial lesion.

Publication types

Case Reports