Covid patients at higher risk of stroke during hospitalisation: Study

For the study, the team accessed the American Heart Association's Covid-19 CVD Registry that included more than 20,000 patients hospitalised with Covid-19 across the US.

A new US-based study has found that hospitalised Covid-19 patients are at a higher risk of stroke compared with patients who had similar infectious conditions such as influenza and sepsis in prior studies.

The study, presented at the International Stroke Conference 2021, showed that 1.4 per cent in the Covid-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry had a stroke confirmed by diagnostic imaging during hospitalisation.

Of these, 52.7 per cent experienced an ischemic stroke; 2.5 per cent had a transient ischemic attack (TIA), and 45.2 per cent experienced a bleeding stroke or unspecified type of stroke.

“These findings suggest that Covid-19 may increase the risk of stroke, though the exact mechanism for this is still unknown,” said lead author State S. Shakil of the University of Washington.

“As the pandemic continues, we are finding that coronavirus is not just a respiratory illness, but a vascular disease that can affect many organ systems,” Shakil added

“It is more important than ever that we curb the spread of Covid-19 via public health interventions and widespread vaccine distribution,” Shakil added.