New cardiovascular events in the convalescent period among survivors of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

BACKGROUND: Patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may have an increased risk of acute cardiovascular events in the convalescent period. AIMS: To determine whether patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection have an increased risk of cardiovascular events during the convalescent period. METHODS: We analyzed 10,691 hospitalized adult pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and contemporary matched controls of pneumonia patients without SARS-CoV-2 infection. The risk of new cardiovascular events following >30 days pneumonia admission (convalescent period) was ascertained using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis to adjust for potential confounders. RESULTS: Among 10,691 pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, 697 patients (5.8%; 95% CI, 5.4-6.2%) developed new cardiovascular events (median time interval of 218 days post pneumonia admission; interquartile range Q1 = 117 days, Q3 = 313 days). The risk of new cardiovascular events was not significantly higher among pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with those with pneumonia without SARS-CoV-2 infection (hazard ratio (HR), 0.90, 95% CI, 0.80-1.02) after adjustment for potential confounders. In addition, no significant difference in the rate of a new ischemic stroke (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.70-1.02) or ischemic heart disease (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.87-1.15) was observed between the pneumonia patients with and without SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that new cardiovascular events rate in the convalescent period among pneumonia patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection was not significantly higher than the rate seen with other pneumonias.

COVID-19 Exposure During Neurology Practice: Results of American Academy of Neurology Survey.

BACKGROUND: To determine the exposure risk for coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) during neurology practice. Neurological manifestations of COVID-19 are increasingly being recognized mandating high level of participation by neurologists. METHODS: An American Academy of Neurology survey inquiring about various aspects of COVID-19 exposure was sent to a random sample of 800 active American Academy of Neurology members who work in the United States. Use of second tier protection (1 or more including sterile gloves, surgical gown, protective goggles/face shield but not N95 mask) or maximum protection (N95 mask in addition to second tier protection) during clinical encounter with suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patients was inquired. RESULTS: Of the 81 respondents, 38% indicated exposure to COVID-19 at work, 1% at home, and none outside of work/home. Of the 28 respondents who did experience at least 1 symptom of COVID-19, tiredness (32%) or diarrhea (8%) were reported. One respondent tested positive out of 12 (17%) of respondents who were tested for COVID-19 within the last 2 weeks. One respondent received health care at an emergency department/urgent care or was hospitalized related to COVID-19. When seeing patients, maximum protection personal protective equipment was used either always or most of the times by 16% of respondents in outpatient setting and 56% of respondents in inpatient settings, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The data could enhance our knowledge of the factors that contribute to COVID-19 exposure during neurology practice in United States, and inform education and advocacy efforts to neurology providers, trainees, and patients in this unprecedented pandemic.

Intracerebral Hemorrhage and Coronavirus Disease 2019 in a Cohort of 282,718 Hospitalized Patients.

BACKGROUND: To identify whether the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage is higher in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), we compared the risk factors, comorbidities, and outcomes in patients intracerebral hemorrhage and COVID-19 and those without COVID-19. METHODS: We analyzed the data from the Cerner deidentified COVID-19 data set derived from 62 health care facilities. The data set included patients with an emergency department or inpatient encounter with discharge diagnoses codes that could be associated with suspicion of or exposure to COVID-19 or confirmed COVID-19. RESULTS: There were a total of 154 (0.2%) and 667 (0.3%) patients with intracerebral hemorrhage among 85,645 patients with COVID-19 and 197,073 patients without COVID-19, respectively. In the multivariate model, there was a lower risk of intracerebral hemorrhage in patients with COVID-19 (odds ratio 0.5; 95% confidence interval 0.5-0.6; p < .0001) after adjustment for sex, age strata, race/ethnicity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, nicotine dependence/tobacco use, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, long-term anticoagulant use, and alcohol abuse. The proportions of patients who developed pneumonia (58.4% versus 22.5%; p < .0001), acute kidney injury (48.7% versus 31.0%; p < .0001), acute myocardial infarction (11% versus 6.4%; p = .048), sepsis (41.6% versus 22.5%; p < .0001), and respiratory failure (61.7% versus 42.3%; p < .0001) were significantly higher among patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and COVID-19 compared with those without COVID-19. The in-hospital mortality among patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and COVID-19 was significantly higher compared with that among those without COVID-19 (40.3% versus 19.0%; p < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis does not suggest that rates of intracerebral hemorrhage are higher in patients with COVID-19. The higher mortality in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and COVID-19 compared with those without COVID-19 is likely mediated by higher frequency of comorbidities and adverse in-hospital events.

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and COVID-19: An Analysis of 282,718 Patients.

BACKGROUND: Intracranial hemorrhage (including subarachnoid hemorrhage [SAH]) has been reported in 0.3%-1.2% of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, no study has evaluated the risk of SAH in patients with COVID-19. METHODS: We analyzed data from 62 health care facilities using the Cerner de-identified COVID-19 dataset. RESULTS: There were 86 (0.1%) and 376 (0.2%) patients with SAH among 85,645 patients with COVID-19 and 197,073 patients without COVID-19, respectively. In the multivariate model, there was a lower risk of SAH in patients with COVID-19 (odds ratio 0.5, 95% confidence interval 0.4-0.7, P < 0.0001) after adjusting for sex, age strata, race/ethnicity, hypertension, and nicotine dependence/tobacco use. The proportions of patients who developed pneumonia (58.1% vs. 21.3%, P < 0.0001), acute kidney injury (43% vs. 27.7%, P = 0.0005), septic shock (44.2% vs. 20.7%, P < 0.0001), and respiratory failure (64.0% vs. 39.1%, P < 0.0001) were significantly higher among patients with SAH and COVID-19 compared with patients without COVID-19. The in-hospital mortality among patients with SAH and COVID-19 was significantly higher compared with patients without COVID-19 (31.4% vs. 12.2%, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of SAH was not increased in patients with COVID-19. The higher mortality in patients with SAH and COVID-19 compared with patients without COVID-19 is likely mediated by higher frequency of systemic comorbidities.

Acute Ischemic Stroke and COVID-19: An Analysis of 27 676 Patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Acute ischemic stroke may occur in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but risk factors, in-hospital events, and outcomes are not well studied in large cohorts. We identified risk factors, comorbidities, and outcomes in patients with COVID-19 with or without acute ischemic stroke and compared with patients without COVID-19 and acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: We analyzed the data from 54 health care facilities using the Cerner deidentified COVID-19 dataset. The dataset included patients with an emergency department or inpatient encounter with discharge diagnoses codes that could be associated to suspicion of or exposure to COVID-19 or confirmed COVID-19. RESULTS: A total of 103 (1.3%) patients developed acute ischemic stroke among 8163 patients with COVID-19. Among all patients with COVID-19, the proportion of patients with hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, and congestive heart failure was significantly higher among those with acute ischemic stroke. Acute ischemic stroke was associated with discharge to destination other than home or death (relative risk, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.6-2.4]; P<0.0001) after adjusting for potential confounders. A total of 199 (1.0%) patients developed acute ischemic stroke among 19 513 patients without COVID-19. Among all ischemic stroke patients, COVID-19 was associated with discharge to destination other than home or death (relative risk, 1.2 [95% CI, 1.0-1.3]; P=0.03) after adjusting for potential confounders. CONCLUSIONS: Acute ischemic stroke was infrequent in patients with COVID-19 and usually occurs in the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors. The risk of discharge to destination other than home or death increased 2-fold with occurrence of acute ischemic stroke in patients with COVID-19.

Mandated societal lockdown and road traffic accidents.

BACKGROUND: The effect of mandated societal lockdown to reduce the transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on road traffic accidents is not known. For this reason, we performed an in-depth analysis using data from Statewide Traffic Accident Records System. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed data on total 2292 road traffic accident records in Missouri from January 1, 2020 through May 15, 2020. We treated March 23 as the first day of mandated societal lockdown and May 3 as the first day of re-opening. RESULTS: We have found that there was a significant reduction in road traffic accidents resulting in minor or no injuries (mean 14.5 versus 10.8, p < 0.0001) but not in accidents resulting in serious or fatal injuries (mean 3.4 versus 3.7, p = 0.42) after mandated societal lockdown. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in road traffic accidents resulting in minor or no injuries after the mandated social lockdown (parameter estimate -5.9, p = 0.0028) in the time series analysis. There was an increase in road traffic accidents resulting in minor or no injuries after expiration of mandatory societal lockdown (mean 10.8 versus 13.7, p = 0.04). CONCLUSION: The mandated societal lockdown policies led to reduction in road traffic accidents resulting in non-serious or no injuries but not those resulting in serious or fatal injuries.

COVID-19 Screening with Chest CT in Acute Stroke Imaging: A Clinical Decision Model.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Acute stroke patients may have undiagnosed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection, transmissible to medical professionals involved in their care. Our aim was to determine the value of incorporating a chest computed tomography (CT) scan during acute stroke imaging, and the factors that influence this decision. METHODS: We constructed a probabilistic decision tree of the value of acquiring a chest CT scan or not, expressed in quality-adjusted life months (QALM) of patients and medical professionals. The model was based on the chance of detecting infection by chest CT scan, the case fatality rates of COVID-19 infection, the risk of COVID-19 infection after exposure, the expected proportion of medical professionals exposed, and the exposure reduction derived from early disease detection. RESULTS: The decision to incorporate the chest CT scan was superior to not doing so (12.00 QALM vs 11.99 QALM, respectively), when the probability of patients having undetected COVID-19 infection is 3.5%, potentially exposing 100% of medical professionals, and if early detection reduces exposure by 50%. The risk of developing symptomatic COVID-19 infection following exposure casts uncertainty on the results, but this is offset by the potential for reducing exposure. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a measurable benefit of incorporating a chest CT into the urgent imaging protocol of acute stroke patients in reducing exposure of medical professionals without appropriate precautions. The clinical impact of this benefit, however, may not be materially significant.