Miller Fisher syndrome associated with COVID-19: an up-to-date systematic review

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 May;28(17):20939-20944. doi: 10.1007/s11356-021-13233-w. Epub 2021 Mar 6.

Abstract

Recently, during the pandemic infection of the novel SARS-CoV-2, some cases of Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) have been reported. We want to summarize the main features of patients with MFS and COVID-19. A PubMed search was performed on 8 October to identify references reporting cases with MFS associated with COVID-19 from the first report of COVID-19 to 8 October 2020 using the following keywords: "Miller Fisher syndrome" AND "COVID-19" OR "SARS-CoV-2". A systematic review from the first report of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to 8 October 2020 revealed 7 cases with Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) associated with COVID-19. The 7 cases came from 5 countries but most of these patients were from Europe (85.7%), especially Spain. There are 5 cases of MFS diagnosed after the laboratory confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The mean onset time of MFS-associated neurological symptoms was 14.75 days after the diagnosis of COVID-19. However, the two remaining cases presented initially with MFS-associated neurological symptoms followed by the diagnosis of COVID-19. The most common symptoms of COVID-19-associated MFS were perioral paresthesias (57.1%), ataxia (57.1%), blurred vision (42.9), ophthalmoplegia (42.9), and generalized areflexia (42.9). However, more cohort and case-control studies are required to establish the epidemiological linkage.

Keywords: COVID-19; MFS; Miller Fisher syndrome; SARS-CoV-2.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19*
  • Europe
  • Humans
  • Miller Fisher Syndrome*
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Spain