Stroke Systems of Care During the COVID-19 Epidemic in Kobe City.

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak raised concerns over healthcare systems' ability to provide suitable care to stroke patients. In the present study, we examined the provision of stroke care in Kobe City during the COVID-19 epidemic, where some major stroke centers ceased to provide emergency care. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. The Kobe Stroke Network surveyed the number of stroke patients admitted to all primary stroke centers (PSCs) in the city between March 1 and May 23, 2020, and between March 3 and May 25, 2019. In addition, online meetings between all PSC directors were held regularly to share information. The survey items included emergency response system characteristics, number of patients with stroke hospitalized within 7 days of onset, administered treatment types (IV rt-PA, mechanical thrombectomy, surgery, and endovascular therapy), and stroke patients with confirmed COVID-19. RESULTS: During the period of interest in 2020, the number of stroke patients hospitalized across 13 PSCs was 813, which was 15.5% lower than that during the same period of 2019 (p = 0.285). The number of patients admitted with cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage decreased by 15.4% (p = 0.245), 16.1% (p = 0.659), and 14.0% (p = 0.715), respectively. However, the rates of mechanical thrombectomy and surgery for intracerebral hemorrhage were slightly increased by 12.1% (p = 0.754) and 5.0% (p = 0.538), respectively. PSCs that ceased to provide emergency care reported a decrease in the number of stroke cases of 65.7% compared with the same period in 2019, while other PSCs reported an increase of 0.8%. No case of a patient with stroke and confirmed COVID-19 was reported during the study period. CONCLUSION: Kobe City was able to maintain operation of its stroke care systems thanks to close cooperation among all city PSCs and a temporal decrease in the total number of stroke cases.

Cerebral venous thrombosis in COVID-19-associated coagulopathy: A case report.

COVID-19 is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and is ongoing pandemic. While a majority of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection shows asymptomatic or mild disease, hospitalized patients can develop critical condition, such as pneumonia, sepsis, and respiratory failure. Some cases deteriorate into sever systemic disease and multiorgan failure. Many patients of severe COVID-19 show hypercoagulable state and complicate with venous thromboembolism and atrial thrombosis. We herein reported a case of COVID-19 who developed cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) co-incidence with pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE). A 56-year-old Japanese man was presented with fever and malaise and diagnosed with COVID-19. He was treated with ciclesonide and azithromycin, but his respiratory condition deteriorated. Thus, systemic corticosteroids and favipiravir were initiated and these treatments resulted in afebrile state, improving malaise and respiratory failure. However, he suddenly developed severe headache and vomiting with increased concentration of D-dimer. Brain CT and MRI showed typical images of CVT in the left transvers sinus and CT pulmonary angiography showed PE. Administration of unfractionated heparin followed by edoxaban treatment reduced the levels of D-dimer and improved his clinical presentation and thrombosis. Monitoring coagulopathy is important in COVID-19 patients and in case of venous thromboembolism, including cerebral venous system, appropriate anticoagulant therapy should be initiated.