Strokes Caused by COVID-19 Could Be More Disabling And Deadly: Watch Out For The Warning Signs

If you have COVID-19, keep a close eye on your symptoms. For early detection of stroke symptoms. Remember the B.E. F.A.S.T. guideline:

There are many factors that can increase your likelihood of having stroke, such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, heart arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, smoking, and drug abuse. Ischemic strokes, which account for 85 per cent of all strokes, are caused by a clog in an artery that can block blood flow to the brain. Studies have shown that severe COVID-19 can also trigger build-up of blood clots which can subsequently lead to heart attack and stroke. Now,a new study by American scientists has revealed that strokes caused by COVID-19 could be more disabling and deadly than those not associated with the infectious disease.

Dr. Adam Dmytriw, an interventional neuroradiology and endovascular neurosurgery fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and colleagues studied COVID-19 cases in North America. They found that about one-third of the patients infected with coronavirus develop neurological complications, and many were hospitalised with ischemic strokes.

Dmytriw stated that the rate of poor outcomes or mortality of COVID-associated stroke is worse than someone who would have an equivalently large stroke in the pre-COVID era. "There is an interaction that is still unknown between COVID respiratory disease and stroke," he said in a hospital news release. The study results have been published online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Who are at risk of serious COVID-19 complications?

Dmytriw and team also found that patients from less wealthy areas appear to be at greater risk for serious COVID-19 complications such as stroke. This may be because they were less able to follow protective measures such as social distancing or working at home, the researchers suggested.

The research team studied the medical records of 230 ischemic stroke patents reported at 30 stroke centers in the United States and Canada from mid-March through August 2020, the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. While about 51 per cent of them fared poorly, and 39 per cent died either in the hospital or within 30 days after discharge, they found.

Before the pandemic, the overall death rate for ischemic stroke patients was about 28 per cent, as suggested by data from large clinical trials conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study revealed higher mortality rates and disabilities from COVID-associated stroke during the first wave, Dmytriw noted in the release.

Previous studies have shown that among patients with COVID-19, acute ischemic stroke usually occurs in the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, and congestive heart failure.

COVID-19 infection is known to cause inflammation throughout the body, as well as produce hypercoagulation of the blood. This combination could trigger venous and arterial thromboembolisms, which can subsequently lead to heart attack and stroke, according to experts.

Ischemic stroke: Watch out for the warning signs

If caught quickly, strokes can be treated, and long-term effects can be minimised or even reversed.

So, if you have COVID-19, keep a close eye on your symptoms. If the symptoms worsen, seek medical help. People with other known risk factors for stroke should discuss with their doctor and make a plan for recovery.

For early detection of stroke symptoms. Remember the B.E. F.A.S.T. guideline:

• Balance: Sudden loss of balance or coordination.
• Eye: Sudden change in vision or trouble seeing.
• Face: When you smile, does one side of the face droop or is it numb?
• Arm Weakness: Raise both arms does one arm drift downward?
• Speech: Asked the person to repeat a simple sentence? Is their speech slurred or strange?
• Time: If you observe any of these signs, it's time to call emergency help and get to a hospital immediately.