—Ever since the coronavirus became a widespread global
pandemic, medical researchers have sought to understand how the virus impacts other
medical ailments, especially neurological ones. In early 2020, New York’s Mount Sinai
Hospital reported that five younger patients stricken with COVID-19 experienced strokes
after their diagnosis. This worrying report led researchers to fear that the virus could lead
to an increase of stroke risk even in patients with no history of vascular disease, like high
blood pressure, diabetes or smoking. In the latest most comprehensive study of this
correlation, researchers found a definite increase in stroke incidence among younger
patients as compared to a similar age-group prior to the onset of the coronavirus
pandemic.
Professor Ronen Leker at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem contributed to this
research, published in Stroke, along with 89 researchers from 136 academic institutions
around the world. The study analyzed data from patients who tested positive for the
coronavirus after they had been hospitalized for stroke and other serious brain events.
The researchers analyzed whether there were differences in the MRIs of patient after
contracting COVID-19 and after the onset of their stroke. The researchers also examined
whether there were geographic factors that impacted the severity of the stroke.
Of the 136 different medical centers in 32 countries, at least 71 reported a patient who
had a stroke during their hospitalization for coronavirus or shortly thereafter. Of the 432
patients, 323 (74.8%) had acute ischemic stroke, 91 (21.1%) intracranial hemorrhage, and
18 (4.2%) cerebral venous or sinus thrombosis. Most troubling was the high occurrence
of ischemic strokes in younger patients with no known existence of the types of
‘classical’ risk factors that contribute to the onset of stroke.
Of the 380 patients who were known to have experienced strokes alongside COVID-19,
close to 38 percent (144 patients) had no recognizable symptoms from the virus, such as
cough, fever; the diagnosis came only after they were admitted to the hospital for stroke.
“This study further strengthened our understanding of the connection between the
coronavirus and strokes in younger patients, as a result of blockages in larger blood
vessels,” Leker explained. “Going forward, we recommend performing COVID testing
on all younger patients with strokes, particularly those with no known pre-existing
conditions. I am hopeful and confident that this study will be instrumental in providing a
better understanding of the link between COVID-19 and stroke, and provide direct
therapeutic benefits to patients.”
