Infection with SARS-CoV-2 or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronarvirus type 2 was highlighted in December 2019 in the city of Wuhan in China, responsible for rapidly developing SARS–CoV-2 virus pandemic spreeding since March 11, 2020.
The main clinical presentation requiring hospitalization of infected patients is that of atypical pneumonia which may require critical care management (27%), and progress to an acute respiratory distress syndrome (67%) involving life-threatening conditions in almost 25% of patients diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Other organ failures have been reported, mainly concerning kidney (29%) which may require renal replacement therapy in approximately 17% of patients.
Neurological damage has been very rarely studied, yet reported in 36% of cases in a study including patients of varying severity.
Finally, the mortality associated with this emerging virus is high in patients for whom critical care management is necessary, reported in 62% of patients.
We therefore propose a prospective observational multicenter study which aims at reporting the prevalence of acute encephalopathy in critically ill patients with SAR-Cov-2 infection, related-outcomes and identifying factors associated with poor outcomes.