ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aimed at: 1) Assessment of the frequency of stroke and related mortality rate in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in two major hospital referral centers in Peru;2) Exploration of factors associated to mortality and dependency in these patients;3) Comparisons of frequency of admissions of stroke patients and reperfusion treatments in similar periods of time prior to (2019) and during the pandemia occurrence. Material(s) and Method(s): A retrospective cohort study was conducted in two of the largest referral hospital centers for COVID-19 in Peru. The study included patient victims of stroke and COVID-19, hospitalized between April and August 2020. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data, radiological findings, and severity levels measured by the NIHSS scale were collected. Poisson regression models to evaluate associated factors to mortality and dependency were applied. Result(s): A 31% reduction of admissions for stroke, and of 81% of intravenous reperfusion treatment, respectively, were found in 2020 when compared with 2019. 1.37% of the patients with COVID-19 experienced a stroke, with an overall mortality rate of 40.6%, and a dependency rate of 68.3% at discharge time (Rankin > 2). An age increase of 10 years was found in mortality, associated with a 29% increase in mortality risk. As well, having hypertension, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory markers (D dimer and ferritin) and the severity of the stroke were associated with mortality. Finally, the severity of stroke, lymphopenia, and inflammatory markers (D dimer and fibrinogen) were associated with greater risk of dependency. Conclusion(s): The care system of stroke patients was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in two of Peru's major public hospitals. There was a decrease in admissions and reperfusion treatments of stroke cases, and 1.37% of patients with COVID-19 presented a stroke. Age, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, inflammatory markers and severity of stroke were associated with mortality in these patients. Copyright 2022 With Intelligence Ltd.
ABSTRACT
Background: Stroke is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide and the current COVID-19 pandemic has a great impact on the care of these patients. Aim: To describe the characteristics of patients with a cerebrovascular event in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in the medical center with the highest hospital capacity in Peru. The Study. We conducted a retrospective study and included patients older than 18 years hospitalized with the diagnosis of COVID-19 and stroke. Findings. A total of 26 adults were included, the mean age was 69.8 years and the median time of admission was 24 hours. Mortality was high (42.3%) and was associated with age and respiratory compromise by COVID-19. The majority of survivors had a poor functional outcome. Conclusion. It is concluded that improvement in care processes is necessary in order to make an early diagnosis and timely treatment. © 2021 Medical Body of the Almanzor Aguinaga Asenjo National Hospital. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: COVID-19 pandemic has forced important changes in health care worldwide. Stroke care networks have been affected, especially acute admissions and ancillary tests availability. We assessed the impact of the pandemic and the lockdowns imposed in stroke admissions in Latin America. Methods: A multinational study (7 countries, 18 centers) of patients admitted since the pandemic outbreak (January - June 2020). These cases were compared with the same period in 2019. We also assessed patterns during the strictest lockdown period (March-June 2020). Number of cases, stroke etiology and severity, acute care and functional outcomes were compared per periods, months, centers and countries. Results: There were 1863 stroke cases in 2019 and 1781 cases in 2020 (p=0.02). We found a significant increase in strokes of undetermined etiology due to incomplete studies in 2020 [16.8% vs 27.6%, p<0.001]). Most countries reported decreases in all-type stroke admissions, except México and Brasil (16% and 36% increases in admissions, respectively). There were no significant differences among months. All-type mortality increased (6.2% vs. 12.6%, p<0.001), and poor functional outcome (mRs 3-6) increased from 32.2% to 38.8% (p=0.007) in 2020. During the period of strict lockdown (March-June 2020), ischemic stroke admissions during the first 24 hours of onset (68.3% vs. 64.4%, p=0.1) and in-hospital stroke code activation (35.1% vs. 27.6%, p=0.005) diminished compared to 2019 period. No differences in total reperfusion treatment rates were observed, with similar door-to-needle and door-to-groin times in both periods. Conclusions: All-type stroke admissions diminished only slightly during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in this region, we found substantial deficiencies in stroke work-up, poor short-term outcome and increased mortality.
ABSTRACT
Background: Ischemic stroke has been reported to occur in approximately 5% of COVID-19 patients, although some reports are contradictory. Proposed mechanisms of this association are hypercoagulable state, vasculitis and cardiomyopathy, together with traditional vascular risk factors. We analyzed the frequency and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 positive stroke cases during the first months of the pandemic in Latin America. Methods: A multinational study (7 countries, 18 centers) of patients admitted during the pandemic outbreak (March - June 2020). We assessed acute stroke cases associated to COVID-19 infection. Clinical characteristics, stroke etiology and severity, acute care and functional outcomes, were compared between non-COVID-19 and COVID-19 cases. Results: There were a total of 1037 stroke cases;sixty-two of them (6.0%) were diagnosed with COVID-19 infection. This group consisted of 38 men [61.3%], with a median age of 68 years [IQR 59-79 years]. From these cases, 80.6% were ischemic stroke, 16.1% hemorrhagic stroke, and 1.6% transient ischemic attack and cerebral venous thrombosis respectively. The most common etiology reported for ischemic cases was atherosclerotic large vessel occlusion (30.6% vs. 12.7% in non- COVID cases, p<0.001), and undetermined etiology for hemorrhagic stroke (55.6%). Median NIHSS for COVID-stroke patients was higher (7 IQR 2-16 vs. 5 IQR 2-11, p=0.05). Five (8.1%) patients received acute reperfusion therapy, with no differences in door-to-CT, door-to-needle and door-togroin times, compared to non-COVID cases. Most characteristics did not differ from those of COVID-19 negative patients. Mortality was higher in COVID-stroke cases (20.9% vs. 9.6%,p<0.001). Conclusions: COVID-19 infection frequency in stroke patients in Latin America is similar to thatreported in several series worldwide, with a higher frequency of atherosclerotic ischemic strokes andmortality compared to non COVID-19 strokes.
ABSTRACT
Reports describing neurological manifestations in patients with COVID-19 have substantially increased in the past months. Nevertheless, findings from neuroimaging studies have been poorly documented because of restrictions due to the need for isolating such patients. Two cases of patients with COVID-19 and clinical neurological manifestations are reported. They underwent brain imaging studies and atypical findings were made in cerebral magnetic resonance imaging. It is necessary to have more detailed and better documented descriptions of neurological manifestations in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and their respective neuroimaging correlates in order to obtain better knowledge of this condition.