Study examines the prevalence and risk factors for non-convulsive seizures among patients hospitalized with COVID-19
Boston – COVID-19 can have damaging effects on organs throughout the body, including the brain. A new study led by investigators at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) demonstrated that some patients hospitalized with COVID-19 experience non-convulsive seizures, which may put them at higher risk of dying. The findings are published in the Annals of Neurology.
“We found that seizures can happen in patients with severe COVID-19 infections, even those without any prior neurologic history, and that they are associated with worse outcomes,” says co-author Mouhsin Shafi, MD, PhD, an investigator in the Department of Neurology at BIDMC, Medical Director of the BIDMC electroencephalogram
In a genome-wide association study (GWAS), the genomes of many individuals are scanned in search of common gene variants that occur more frequently in people who have a given disease, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, common Alzheimer’s-associated gene variants have accounted for less than half of the heritability of AD. A standard GWAS misses the rare gene variants (those occurring in less than 1% of the population).
Now researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, report they have used whole genome sequencing (WGS) to discover rare genomic variants associated with AD, and have identified 13 variants.