The study, published in the journal Neurology – the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology – evaluated data from 4,711 COVID-19 patients admitted to Montefiore Medical Center in the U.S. in the six-week period March 1, 2020 and April 16, 2020.
According to the scientists, including those from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the U.S., 581 of the 4,711 patients eligible for brain imaging had brain problems.
They compared these individuals with 1,743 non-neurological COVID-19 patients of the same age and severity of simultaneously admitted disease.
“This study is the first to show that the presence of brain symptoms, particularly stroke and upset or altered thinking, may indicate a worse course of illness, even when lung problems are not severe. , “said David Altschul, co – author of the study from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
“Hospitals can use this knowledge to prioritize treatment and, hopefully, save more lives through this pandemic,” Altschul said.
The researchers believe the findings have the potential to identify and focus treatment efforts on those most at risk, and could reduce COVID-19 deaths.
In the study, they reported that 55 participants were diagnosed with a stroke and that 258 people expressed confusion or altered thinking ability.
According to the scientists, people with a stroke were twice as likely to die (mortality 49 percent) compared to their comparable controls (mortality 24 percent) – a statistically significant difference.
They said people with anxiety had a 40 percent mortality rate compared to 33 percent for their equal controls.
Over 50 percent of the stroke patients in the study did not have hip-tolerance or any other risk factors for stroke.
“This very strange finding agrees with other studies of people with COVID-19 in suggesting that infection with the novel coronavirus itself is a risk factor for stroke,” Altschul said.