Gurugram: Medeor Hospital Manesar – a dedicated facility to treat Covid-19 Patients at Gurugram has successfully treated a 36 years old male migrant labourer from Bihar, (who was living alone in Gurugram) suffering from COVID-19 related ADEM (a very rare neurological disorder).

The patient was referred from another hospital with altered mental status and high fever and admitted on May 17, 2020. He was in coma state at the time of admission and tested positive in PCR test for COVID-19.

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is a very rare neurological disorder. Although it is usually found in children, but it can affect people of any age. ADEM is the result of an immune reaction to an infection in the body. In this reaction, the immune system, instead of fighting off the infection, causes inflammation in the brain & spinal cord. This immune response is also responsible for demyelination, a process in which myelin (the protective coating of nerves in the brain) get damaged. ADEM is a rapidly developing illness with varied neurological symptoms like headache, fever, unsteadiness, weakness in arms or legs, confusion or convulsions. Severe cases can even go into coma.

The patient’s chest X-Ray showed COVID pneumonia patches in both the lungs. A computed tomography (CT) of the brain showed no evidence of intracranial haemorrhage, but there were multifocal patchy areas of white matter hypoattenuation. The MRI showed extensive patchy areas of abnormal signals involving both hemispheres of brain and deep seated important areas of brain including basal ganglia. His brain fluid examination was also done. He was diagnosed to have a rare complication of COVID-19 disease called ADEM (acute disseminated encephalomyelitis). Patient was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy and other treatment modalities by the ICU team led by Dr Ashish Gupta, Director – Critical Care Medicine, Medeor Hospital, Manesar. After 25 days of treatment in the ICU, he finally had a good neurological recovery, regained consciousness, and got negative for COVID-19 infection.

Commenting on this remarkable case successfully handled by the team at Medeor, Dr. Ashish Gupta, Director – Critical Care Medicine, Medeor Hospital, Manesar said, “At Medeor Hospital Manesar – dedicated facility for the treatment and management of COVID-19 patients, we are receiving only confirmed COVID patients and have so far treated more than 200 patients. This is the first case of ADEM which our specialised team of doctors and medical staff have successfully treated for COVID. Being a rarest of the rare disease, there have been hardly any reported cases of COVID-19 related ADEM, as per our present knowledge.”

Till date, there are very few cases of COVID-19 related ADEM reported across the world.

Due to compassion and care provided by the Medical team at Medeor Hospital, Patient had a good neurological improvement and was discharged on June 11, 2020.