In a Journal of Neuroimaging analysis of data obtained from 193 patients with COVID-19 who had brain and/or spine imaging and a lumbar puncture because of neurologic symptoms, investigators found that imaging results were related to the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the cerebrospinal fluid.

The results were called central nervous system hyperintense lesions and leptomeningeal enhancement. Ten percent of patients with hyperintense lesions in the brain/spine had a positive PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2 in the cerebrospinal fluid, compared with no patients without hyperintense lesions in the brain/spine. Twenty-five percent of patients with leptomeningeal enhancement had a positive PCR test result for SARS-CoV-2 in the cerebrospinal fluid, compared with 5% of patients without leptomeningeal enhancement.

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