A study by Polish scientists indicates that patients with ischemic stroke who additionally suffer from COVID have a 3 times higher risk of dying per day.
The combination of SARS-CoV-2 infection and stroke, in addition to increasing the risk of death, can cause bleeding complications. Moreover, such patients are many times more likely to suffer from venous stroke. Such conclusions were reached by a group of scientists from the University Teaching Hospital in Wrocław, who analyzed the he alth of patients of the Department of Neurology, hospitalized for stroke and infected with COVID-19.
The study lasted two years and was part of an international project that was also carried out in other centers around the world. In total, it covered over 15 thousand. patients treated for stroke in 139 facilities across Europe, but also in North America, Asia and Africa. The first reports of a relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and a more severe course of ischemic stroke appeared at the beginning of the pandemic.
- We analyzed only those patients who had suffered a stroke and at the same time had a confirmed COVID-19 infection on admission to hospital or during hospitalization, and turned out to be positive. The observation of our group of studies shows that the infection worsens the prognosis of patients with ischemic stroke even when they undergo COVID-19 asymptomatically - explained Dr. Marta Nowakowska-Kotas from the Department of Neurology of the USK, as well as a consultant in the field of neurology.
Scientists have already established that the risk of dying from a stroke in patients infected with the coronavirus within 24 hours is significantly higher than in those without the infection. Moreover, an infected person's stroke is more extensive and affects many intracranial vessels simultaneously, and the risk of bleeding complications is greater, making treatment more difficult.
- Another problem has also surfaced: a venous stroke caused by thrombosis of the veins and intracranial sinuses, the risk of which with COVID-19 increases up to 100 times. It is worth highlighting these statistics, especially in the context of concerns about certain vaccines. If, after administration of the vaccine, the risk of developing a thrombosis, which is the thrombosis itself and not a stroke, increases 10 times, and as a result of the infection itselfwe have a hundred times greater risk, the matter is indisputable. Coronavirus infection is many times more dangerous to he alth and life than the rare adverse events following the vaccine. That is why we constantly encourage everyone who has not yet done it to vaccinate, emphasized Dr. Nowakowska-Kotas.
Dr. Nowakowska-Kotas also drew attention to the still existing problem - too late admission of stroke patients to the hospital. This often prevents the use of appropriate reperfusion procedures to reverse the neurological symptoms associated with stroke. Time plays a key role. The restoration of the vessels in the brain by thrombolysis should be performed within 4.5 hours of stroke, and mechanical thrombectomy within 6 hours. However, many patients are admitted to the ward much later.
- At the USK Neurology Clinic we treat stroke patients all the time. They will receive specialist help whether they are infected or not. We apply all the necessary safety procedures to COVID-19 patients. You can't wait for the infection to pass with a stroke, says a neurology consultant.