{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,11]],"date-time":"2026-02-11T06:13:37Z","timestamp":1770790417827,"version":"3.50.0"},"reference-count":10,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760486400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760486400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Justus-Liebig-Universit\u00e4t Gie\u00dfen"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Neurol. Res. Pract."],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Post-COVID can be associated with neurological symptoms such as neuropathy or fatigue. Histological analysis of affected nerves is rarely described and post mortem study of the brain and peripheral nerves are carried out only in few cases.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>In the case report, we describe the clinical and neuropathological findings of a 75-year-old female patient who presented with a motor and sensory axonal neuropathy after a SARS-CoV-2 infection seven weeks before and suddenly died. Laboratory testing of serum and CSF revealed no signs of systemic vasculitis or infectious diseases. A post mortem investigation was performed. Samples from the brain including the cranial nerves, peripheral nerves and skeletal muscles from different regions were analysed.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>The brain revealed lymphocytic cells predominantly in the basal ganglia and brain stem with involvement of the cranial nerves. Interestingly, a CNS involvement was not observed during lifetime. The sensory and motor peripheral nerves revealed a severe axonal neuritis. Skeletal muscle showed a neurogenic atrophy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>This case report highlights that a post-infectious autoimmune disorder with CNS and PNS involvement should be considered in patients with post-COVID. The diagnosis of an ongoing inflammation may influence the treatment options.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1186\/s42466-025-00436-6","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]],"date-time":"2025-10-15T15:51:46Z","timestamp":1760543506000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Post-infectious autoimmune disorder involving the CNS and PNS following SARS-CoV-2 infection \u2013 a clinical-morphological case report"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Vincent","family":"Umathum","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Carolin","family":"K\u00f6nig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dirk","family":"Bandorski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lukas","family":"Scheffer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Joachim","family":"Weis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Heidrun H.","family":"Kr\u00e4mer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jens","family":"Allend\u00f6rfer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2014-2028","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anne","family":"Sch\u00e4nzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"436_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Woo, M. S. (2023). Vagus nerve inflammation contributes to dysautonomia in COVID-19. Acta Neuropathol, 146(3), 387\u2013394. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s00401-023-02612-x","DOI":"10.1007\/s00401-023-02612-x"},{"key":"436_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Matschke, J. (2020). Neuropathology of patients with COVID-19 in Germany: a post-mortem case series. Lancet Neurol, 19(11), 919\u2013929. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S1474-4422(20)30308-2","DOI":"10.1016\/S1474-4422(20)30308-2"},{"key":"436_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Reiss, A. B., et al. (2023). Long COVID, the brain, nerves, and cognitive function. Neurol Int, 15(3), Art3. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/neurolint15030052","DOI":"10.3390\/neurolint15030052"},{"key":"436_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Olbert, E., Alhani, N., & Struhal, W. (2024). Retrospective analysis of COVID-19 patients with Guillain-Barre, Miller-Fisher, and opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia syndromes-a case series. Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift, 174, 1\u20132. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s10354-023-01018-4","DOI":"10.1007\/s10354-023-01018-4"},{"key":"436_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Emmi, A., et al. (2023). Detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins and genomic sequences in human brainstem nuclei. NPJ Parkinsons Dis, 9(1), 1\u201320. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41531-023-00467-3","DOI":"10.1038\/s41531-023-00467-3"},{"key":"436_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Younger, D. S. (2023). Postmortem neuropathology in COVID-19: An update. Brain Pathol, 33(6), e13204. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/bpa.13204","DOI":"10.1111\/bpa.13204"},{"key":"436_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Lebrun, L., et al. (2023). SARS-Cov-2 infection and neuropathological findings: A report of 18 cases and review of the literature. Acta Neuropathol Commun, 11(1), 78. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s40478-023-01566-1","DOI":"10.1186\/s40478-023-01566-1"},{"key":"436_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Rau, A., Reisert, M., Urbach, H., Weiller, C., Schr\u00f6ter, N., & Hosp, J. A. (2024). COVID-19 associated brain alterations and the implications for defining healthy controls: A paradigm shift in neuroimaging research? Neuroimage, 302, 120898. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2024.120898","DOI":"10.1016\/j.neuroimage.2024.120898"},{"key":"436_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Pimentel, V., et al. (2023). Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome associated with COVID-19: A systematic review. Brain Behav Immun Health, 28, 100578. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.bbih.2022.100578","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bbih.2022.100578"},{"key":"436_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","unstructured":"Masuccio, F. G., Barra, M., Claudio, G., & Claudio, S. (2021). A rare case of acute motor axonal neuropathy and myelitis related to SARS-CoV-2 infection. J Neurol, 268(7), 2327\u20132330. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s00415-020-10219-5","DOI":"10.1007\/s00415-020-10219-5"}],"container-title":["Neurological Research and Practice"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s42466-025-00436-6.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s42466-025-00436-6","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s42466-025-00436-6.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T15:29:46Z","timestamp":1770650986000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/10.1186\/s42466-025-00436-6"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"references-count":10,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12]]}},"alternative-id":["436"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s42466-025-00436-6","relation":{},"ISSN":["2524-3489"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2524-3489","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,15]]},"assertion":[{"value":"26 November 2024","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"30 September 2025","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"15 October 2025","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"This project was approved by the local ethic committee (AZ 07\/09 Justus-LiebigUniversityGiessen) and conducted to the accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Written informed consent was obtained from the patient relatives.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare they have no competing conflicts.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"76"}}