Spastic Paraparesis After SARS-CoV-2 Infection Without Radiological Changes

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is primarily a disease of the respiratory system but severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may cause several immune-related complications including different neurological disorders, such as myelopathy with paraparesis.In this atypical case a female patient with progressive spastic paraparesis after COVID-19 infection, brisk reflexes and positive Babinski sign, reduced vibratory sensation to the thoracic level, elevated immunoglobulin levels (IgG) in cerebrospinal fluid, but negative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and spine, is presented. A 57-year-old woman with spastic paraparesis and inability to walk was admitted to our neurological department. About four months before hospitalization, she started feeling numbness and tingling in the feet and lumbar spine area. Gradually, numbness and tingling ascended to the thoracic spine level Th7/8, and she developed weakness mostly in her legs. In the neurological exam she had spastic paraparesis. MRI of the brain, cervical and thoracic spine did not reveal any signal abnormality. Serological testing for SARS-CoV-2 was performed and results were highly positive IgG and IgM+IgA levels. The lumbar puncture finding confirmed the suspicion of immune-related complications after SARS-CoV-2 infection (intrathecal IgG synthesis). This case draws attention to spastic paraparesis or progressive MRI-negative myelitis after SARS-CoV-2 infection, which obviously has immune-mediated pathogenesis that happen in response to the virus or its antibodies. Similarities in spastic paraparesis after human T-lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) and SARS-CoV-2 infections were observed. The patient had a good response to corticosteroid therapy and had good recovery.