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People hospitalized with COVID-19 and brain problems including stroke and upset are at higher risk than other COVID-19 patients, according to a study published online today by researchers at Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. These decisions have the potential to identify and target treatment efforts at those most at risk and may reduce COVID-19 deaths.
The study looked at data from 4,711 COVID-19 patients admitted to Montefiore in the six-week period between March 1, 2020 and April 16, 2020. Of these patients, 581 had brain disorders (12 %) which were bad enough to warrant the brain. images. These were compared 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 neurological 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, MD, head of the neurovascular surgery department at Einstein and Montefiore and associate professor in the Leo M. Davidoff Department in neurological and radiation surgery at Einstein. “Hospitals can use this knowledge to prioritize treatment and, hopefully, save more lives through this pandemic.”
Among people who underwent brain imaging, 55 were diagnosed with a stroke and 258 were confused or altered thinking ability. People with stroke were twice as likely to die (49% mortality) compared to their equivalent controls (24% mortality) – a statistically significant difference. People with depression had a 40% mortality rate compared to 33% for their equal controls – also statistically significant.
More than half of the stroke patients in the study did not have hypertension or other risk factors for stroke. “This unusual 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,” said Dr. Altschul, who is also a director surgery at the Montefiore Comprehensive Center for Stroke Care, and co-author of the study, with Emad Eskandar, MD, MBA, chair of neurological surgery at Einstein and Montefiore, professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery Leo M. Davidoff, department of neurology mental and behavioral sciences, in the Dominick P. Department of Neuroscience Purpura at Einstein. Dr. Eskandar also holds the Jeffrey P. Bergstein Chair and Chairman David B. Keidan in neurological surgery.
The title of the paper is “Neurologic Syndromes Predict Higher In-Hospital Mortality in COVID-19.”
8 in 10 COVID-19 patients experience neurological symptoms, a study found
Presented by Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Citation: Stroke and altered state of mind increase risk of death for COVID-19 patients (2020, December 19) recovered December 19, 2020 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-12-mental-state-death- covid-patients. html
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