Background The role of vitamin D status in COVID-19 patients is a matter of debate. Objectives To assess serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) levels in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and to analyze the possible influence of vitamin D status on disease severity. Methods Retrospective case–control study of 216 COVID-19 patients and 197 population-based controls. Serum 25OHD levels were measured in both groups. The association of serum 25OHD levels with COVID-19 severity (admission to the intensive care unit, requirements for mechanical ventilation, or mortality) was also evaluated. Results Of the 216 patients, 19 were on vitamin D supplements and were analyzed separately. In COVID-19 patients, mean ± standard deviation 25OHD levels were 13.8 ± 7.2 ng/mL, compared with 20.9 ± 7.4 ng/mL in controls (P < .0001). 25OHD values were lower in men than in women. Vitamin D deficiency was found in 82.2% of COVID-19 cases and 47.2% of population-based controls (P < .0001). 25OHD inversely correlates with serum ferritin (P = .013) and D-dimer levels (P = .027). Vitamin D-deficient COVID-19 patients had a greater prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, raised serum ferritin and troponin levels, as well as a longer length of hospital stay than those with serum 25OHD levels ≥20 ng/mL. No causal relationship was found between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 severity as a combined endpoint or as its separate components. Conclusions 25OHD levels are lower in hospitalized COVID-19 patients than in population-based controls and these patients had a higher prevalence of deficiency. We did not find any relationship between vitamin D concentrations or vitamin deficiency and the severity of the disease.

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Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) in adults represents a constellation of conditions producing ongoing ictal impairment with myriad clinical presentations. These may vary from minimal obtundation, to psychosis to coma for which electroencephalography is essential to diagnosis. Treatment is highly variable and is tailored to the level of consciousness, probable outcome and underlying etiology. There is a new and emerging understanding of the nature of NCSE, its classification and the challenges in treatment. The aim of this article is to review the classic and most recent literature on NCSE in adults focusing attention on the clinical settings in which NCSE frequently occurs, in order to improve awareness of the issues involved in electroclinical diagnosis, treatment and prognostication.