Chronic Neurology in COVID-19 Era: Clinical Considerations and Recommendations From the REPROGRAM Consortium

Sonu Bhaskar; Sian Bradley; Simon Israeli-Korn; Bindu Menon; Vijay Kumar Chattu; Pravin Thomas; Jasvinder Chawla; Rajeev Kumar; Paolo Prandi; Daniel Ray; Sailaja Golla; Nirmal Surya; Harvey Yang; Sandra Martinez; Mihriban Heval Ozgen; John Codrington; Eva María Jiménez González; Mandana Toosi; Nithya Hariya Mohan; Koravangattu Valsraj Menon; Abderrahmane Chahidi; Susana Mederer Hengstl

doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.00664

Chronic Neurology in COVID-19 Era: Clinical Considerations and Recommendations From the REPROGRAM Consortium

Front Neurol. 2020 Jun 24:11:664. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00664. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Sonu Bhaskar^{1

2

3}, Sian Bradley^{1

4}, Simon Israeli-Korn^{1

5}, Bindu Menon^{1

6}, Vijay Kumar Chattu^{1

7}, Pravin Thomas^{1

8}, Jasvinder Chawla^{1

9}, Rajeev Kumar^{1

10}, Paolo Prandi^{1

11}, Daniel Ray^{1

12}, Sailaja Golla^{1

13}, Nirmal Surya^{1

14}, Harvey Yang^{1

15}, Sandra Martinez^{1

16}, Mihriban Heval Ozgen^{1

17

18}, John Codrington^{1

19}, Eva María Jiménez González^{1

20}, Mandana Toosi^{1

21}, Nithya Hariya Mohan^{1

22}, Koravangattu Valsraj Menon^{1

23}, Abderrahmane Chahidi^{1

24

25

26}, Susana Mederer Hengstl^{1

27}

Affiliations

¹ Pandemic Health System REsilience PROGRAM (REPROGRAM) Consortium, Chronic Neurology REPROGRAM Sub-committee†.
² Department of Neurology and Neurophysiology, Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
³ Neurovascular Imaging Laboratory & NSW Brain Clot Bank, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research and South West Sydney Clinical School, The University of New South Wales, UNSW Medicine, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ The University of New South Wales, UNSW Medicine, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan and Sackler School of Medicine, Movement Disorders Institute, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Apollo Hospitals, Nellore, India.
⁷ Department of Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁸ Department of Neurology, University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
⁹ Department of Neurology, Loyola University Medical Center & Hines VA Hospital, Chicago, IL, United States.
¹⁰ Department of Psychiatry, Hamad Medical Center, Qatar & Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Neurology, University of Eastern Piedmont Amedeo Avogadro, Novara, Italy.
¹² Farr Institute of Health Informatics, University College London (UCL) & NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
¹³ Texas Institute for Neurological Disorders, Dallas, TX, United States.
¹⁴ Department of Neurology, Bombay Hospital & Medical Research Centre, and Epilepsy Foundation India, Mumbai, India.
¹⁵ Department of Neurology, Academic Hospital Paramaribo & Anton de Kom Universiteit van Suriname Faculteit der Medische Wetenschappen, Paramaribo, Suriname.
¹⁶ Department of Neurology, Hospital da Restauração, Recife, Brazil.
¹⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Parnassia Psychiatric Institute, The Hague, Netherlands.
¹⁸ Curium-Leiden University Medical Centre, Oegstgeest, Netherlands.
¹⁹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Academic Hospital Paramaribo and Anton de Kom Universiteit van Suriname Faculteit der Medische Wetenschappen, Paramaribo, Suriname.
²⁰ Department of Forensic Psychology, Forensic Psychology and Forensic Sciences Institute, Ministry of Justice, Granada, Spain.
²¹ LodeStone Center for Behavioral Health and Eastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, United States.
²² Chengalpattu Medical College and Hospital, Chengalpattu, India.
²³ Department of Psychiatry, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Kings Health Partners, London, United Kingdom.
²⁴ ED 268, DR 178, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris, France.
²⁵ Moroccan Society of Neurophysiology, Marrakech, Morocco.
²⁶ Morocco and Basic and Clinical Neurosciences Research Laboratory, University Medical School of Marrakech, Marrakech, Morocco.
²⁷ Department of Neurology, Complejo Hospitalario de Pontevedra, Pontevedra, Spain.

Abstract

With the rapid pace and scale of the emerging coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a growing body of evidence has shown a strong association of COVID-19 with pre- and post- neurological complications. This has necessitated the need to incorporate targeted neurological care for this subgroup of patients which warrants further reorganization of services, healthcare workforce, and ongoing management of chronic neurological cases. The social distancing and the shutdown imposed by several nations in the midst of COVID-19 have severely impacted the ongoing care, access and support of patients with chronic neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, Neuromuscular Disorders, Migraine, Dementia, and Parkinson disease. There is a pressing need for governing bodies including national and international professional associations, health ministries and health institutions to harmonize policies, guidelines, and recommendations relating to the management of chronic neurological conditions. These harmonized guidelines should ensure patient continuity across the spectrum of hospital and community care including the well-being, safety, and mental health of the patients, their care partners and the health professionals involved. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on chronic neurological conditions and specific recommendations to minimize the potential harm to those at high risk.

Keywords: chronic neurological disease; coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); guidelines; healthcare services; neurodegenerative disorders; pandemics; protocols; recommendations.

Copyright © 2020 Bhaskar, Bradley, Israeli-Korn, Menon, Chattu, Thomas, Chawla, Kumar, Prandi, Ray, Golla, Surya, Yang, Martinez, Ozgen, Codrington, González, Toosi, Hariya Mohan, Menon, Chahidi and Mederer Hengstl.