Author response: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after SARS-CoV-2 infection
GiovanniNovi, Physician, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino
Submitted June 26, 2020
We thank Dr. de Belaunde for the comment on our article.1 We believe that positive RT-PCR should be interpreted as a delay in viral clearance—rather than a primary infection—for several reasons:
(1) presence of positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies indicate that the patient was in the convalescent phase (i.e.: the immune system had enough time to mount a humoral response to the virus); (2) prompt response to i.v. steroids and immunoglobulins suggests the presence of an autoimmune disease; and (3) involvement of specific CNS structures is typical of ADEM disease.
Disclosure
The author reports no relevant disclosures. Contact journal@neurology.org for full disclosures.
Reference
Novi G, Rossi T, Pedemonte E, et al. Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm 2020;7:e797.
We thank Dr. de Belaunde for the comment on our article.1 We believe that positive RT-PCR should be interpreted as a delay in viral clearance—rather than a primary infection—for several reasons:
(1) presence of positive anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies indicate that the patient was in the convalescent phase (i.e.: the immune system had enough time to mount a humoral response to the virus); (2) prompt response to i.v. steroids and immunoglobulins suggests the presence of an autoimmune disease; and (3) involvement of specific CNS structures is typical of ADEM disease.
Disclosure
The author reports no relevant disclosures. Contact journal@neurology.org for full disclosures.
Reference