Less than 2% of COVID-19 patients suffered an ischemic stroke

A study of nearly 28,000 emergency department records shows that less than 2% of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 suffered an ischemic stroke but those in need of care had a higher risk. long-term after their discharge from hospital. These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine and MU Health Care.

The researchers teamed up with the MU Institute for Data Science and Informatics and the Tiger Institute for Health Innovation to review data from 54 health care facilities. They found that 103 patients (1.3%) developed ischemic stroke among 8,163 patients with COVID-19. In comparison, 199 patients (1.0%) developed stroke among 19,513 patients who did not have COVID-19.

Patients with COVID-19 who developed an ischemic stroke were older, more likely to be black and had a higher frequency of cardiovascular risk factors. “

Adnan I. Qureshi, MD, Principal Investigator, Professor of Clinical Neurology, MU School of Medicine

The mean age of COVID-19 patients with stroke was 68.8 compared with 54.4 for those without stroke. Among those with COVID-19 and stroke, 45% were black, 36% white and 6% Hispanic. They were prone to hypertension (84%), high blood fat content (75%) and diabetes (56%).

“We also found that COVID-19 patients with stroke had a significantly higher transmission rate to a destination other than at home compared to stroke patients without COVID-19,” Qureshi said. “Patients with COVID-19 tend to experience multiple systemic and elevated symptoms of inflammation, which have been shown to increase mortality or disability.”

Qureshi said his findings are somewhat different from earlier studies that suggested that patients with COVID-19 who developed a stroke were younger and without preexisting cardiovascular risk factors.

“Even though COVID-19 was a predictive factor, the risk was seen mainly in those at risk for stroke due to other cardiovascular risk factors,” Qureshi said.