Reader response: Prolonged Unconsciousness Following Severe COVID-19

Abdo et al.1 reported a case series of patients with prolonged but reversible unconsciousness after severe COVID-19. All the patients were hospitalized in the ICU because of severe respiratory failure. Subsequently, the patients developed additional complications, including both systemic (acute kidney failure) and neurologic (flaccid tetraparesis) disorders. Coma settled in several days later. The authors concluded that the main differential diagnoses in these cases were parainfectious/autoimmune encephalitis or critical illness–related encephalopathy.1