Stroke: Fewer people hospitalized during COVID-19 due to transient cerebral ischemic episodes, mild and stroke

Since the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, doctors and public health institutions have expressed concern about the decline in the quality of treatment for other diseases due to social constraints and lack of resourcesIn a recent study published in Stroke, an authoritative journal in the field of cardiovascular disease, researchers investigated the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on stroke admission levels in Brazil using a population-based stroke registration systemThe researchers compared patients admitted to hospital after COVID-19 in cities (defined as March 17, 2020) with patients admitted in 2019, and analyzed differences between stroke incidence, type, severity, reperfusion therapy, and stroke seizures to admission time, and conducted statistical tests to compare the 30 days before and after COVID-19 with the same period in 2019The researchers observed a decrease in the total number of hospital admissions for stroke from an average of 12.9 per month per month in 2019 to 8.3 per 100,000 after COVID-19 (P-0.0029)Compared to the same period in 2019, the number of hospital admissions for stroke decreased by 36.4%There was no difference in admission rates for severe stroke (National Institutes of Health stroke scale score s.8), cerebral hemorrhage, and cobweb subcavity hemorrhageThus, COVID-19 outbreaks were associated with reduced hospitalization rates for short, mild and moderate strokeGiven the need to prevent the deterioration of symptoms and medical complications in these populations, the recombination of the stroke treatment network is necessary to reduce collateral damage caused by COVID-19