COVID-19 presenting with ophthalmoparesis from cranial nerve palsy
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- COVID-19 and Its Ophthalmic Manifestations: A Literature Review, Cureus, (2024).https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.55571
- Bilateral Sequential Abducens Nerve Palsy After Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (BNT162b2): A Case Report and Literature Review, Cureus, (2024).https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.51682
- COVID-19 Ocular Manifestation: A Cross-Sectional Study, Barw Medical Journal, (2024).https://doi.org/10.58742/4thbhe26
- Posterior Segment Ocular Findings in Critically Ill Patients with COVID, New COVID-19 Variants - Diagnosis and Management in the Post-Pandemic Era, (2024).https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.1004050
- Meningoencefalitis asociada a Parálisis del III Nervio Craneal por SARS-CoV-2: Reporte de un caso, Revista Mexicana de Oftalmología, 97, 5S, (130-133), (2024).https://doi.org/10.5005/rmo-11013-0064
- Meningoencephalitis associated with Third Cranial Nerve Palsy by SARS-CoV-2: Report of a Case, Revista Mexicana de Oftalmología, 97, 5E, (130-133), (2024).https://doi.org/10.5005/rmo-11013-0063
- COVID-19–related posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: insights from a clinical case, encephalitis, 4, 1, (18-22), (2024).https://doi.org/10.47936/encephalitis.2023.00115
- Neuropathic Corneal Pain after Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Infection, Diseases, 12, 2, (37), (2024).https://doi.org/10.3390/diseases12020037
- The Review of Ophthalmic Symptoms in COVID-19, Clinical Ophthalmology, Volume 18, (1417-1432), (2024).https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S460224
- Fifteen acute retrobulbar optic neuritis associated with COVID-19: A case report and review of literature, World Journal of Clinical Cases, 12, 21, (4827-4835), (2024).https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v12.i21.4827
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We appreciate Dr. Machado’s insightful comments regarding our case series1 describing cranial neuropathies in two patients with COVID-19. The triad of progressive ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and areflexia in our first case suggested Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS), despite the negative ganglioside panel, although we were surprised by the short interval of 4 days between respiratory and neurologic symptoms. However, in two cases of COVID-19 associated MFS, latencies were similar (5 and 3 days),2 suggesting that the post-infectious interval is shorter for COVID-19 than for other infections. In fact, in a recent case of Guillain-Barré syndrome associated with COVID-19, neurologic symptoms preceded the respiratory symptoms by one week.3 The authors noted that lymphopenia was present upon admission, indicating presence of COVID-19 long before systemic symptoms began. This is in line with recent observations that 10/13 nursing home residents only developed symptoms seven days after testing positive.4 Our second case may reflect direct viral invasion as there were no signs of MFS. Transfer of the virus through the olfactory bulbs is supported by recent evidence of olfactory bulb edema5 and hyperintensity of the adjacent gyrus rectus6 in patients with COVID-19 associated anosmia, although our patient never developed anosmia. The rapid recovery of anosmia observed in most COVID-19 cases argues for olfactory epithelial dysfunction as opposed to olfactory nerve damage, and we agree with Dr. Machado that hematogenous spread of virus may also play a role in CNS disease.
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Dinkin et al.1 reported two COVID-19 patients: the first case complained of subjective fever, cough and myalgias, and 4 days later showed ophthalmoparesis, leg paresthesia, and tendon areflexia; the second case suffered from cough and fever for several days and finally presented painless diplopia and abduction palsy of her right eye.
The authors argued that a virus-mediated immune response was a possible mechanism to explain patients’ symptoms1 as reported in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.2 The authors also considered the possibility of a direct virus infection mechanism.1
Timing in the appearance of symptoms is crucial to discuss the possible virus infection mechanism.2,3 Symptoms in GBS generally developed from 1 to 6 weeks following an upper respiratory infection or diarrheal type illness, or after vaccination.2
SARS-CoV-2 can reach CNS through hematogenous or neural propagation. Neural dissemination can be retrograde or antegrade and is facilitated by proteins called dinein and kinesin, which can be targets of viruses. Hence, SARS-CoV-2 can even invade the CNS coming from peripheral nerves.3–5
Therefore, the occurrence of neurologic symptoms within a few days of disease onset led to consideration of a possible direct virus infection mechanism, although a virus-mediated immune response can’t be excluded.
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The author reports no relevant disclosures. Contact [email protected] for full disclosures.
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