News Scan for Jul 29, 2022

Study: COVID patients who have a stroke face more than twice the risk of deathCOVID-19 patients who have a stroke are more than twice as likely to die than uninfected stroke patients and are often younger and healthier, finds research presented yesterday at the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery’s (SNIS's) 19th Annual Meeting in Toronto.A team led by researchers from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia analyzed data from 575 patients treated for acute large-vessel occlusions (LVOs) at nearly 50 thrombectomy stroke centers in Europe and North America.

A minimally invasive procedure, thrombectomy reopens blocked arteries in the brain with a catheter.Of the 575 patients, 194 (34%) tested positive for COVID-19; the 381 uninfected control patients had LVOs and received a thrombectomy from January 2018 to December 2020.COVID-19 illness was moderate at the time of stroke in 75.5% of the cases, while it was severe in 15.8% and critical in 8.7%.

The average interval between COVID-19 diagnosis and stroke onset was 9 days; stroke was the presenting COVID-19 symptom in 34% of the patients.Thrombectomy in COVID-19 patients, who were younger and were at lower risk for unfavorable outcomes, was less likely to successfully restore blood flow to blocked arteries or veins than in controls.

Furthermore, the procedure took longer in COVID-19 patients, who also faced more days in the hospital and were more than twice as likely to die."There is still so much we need to learn about COVID-19, especially its impact on younger patients," lead study author Pascal Jabbour, MD, of Thomas Jefferson University, said in an SNIS news release. "Stroke’s impact on individuals with COVID-19 is alarming and one we must continue to research and