Abstract
BackgroundSince the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the stroke care systems have been seriously affected because of social restrictions and other reasons. As the pandemic continues to spread globally, it is of great significance to understand how COVID-19 affects the stroke care systems in mainland China.MethodsWe retrospectively studied the real-world data of one comprehensive stroke center in mainland China from January to February 2020 and compared it with the data collected during the same period in 2019. We analyzed DTN time, onset-to-door time, severity, effects after treatment, the hospital length of stays, costs of hospitalization, etc., and the correlation between medical burden and prognosis of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients.ResultsThe COVID-19 pandemic was most severe in mainland China in January and February 2020. During the pandemic, there were no differences in pre-hospital or in-hospital workflow metrics (all p>0.05), while the degree of neurological deficit on admission and at discharge, the effects after treatment, and the long-term prognosis were all worse (all p<0.05). The severity and prognosis of AIS patients were positively correlated with the hospital length of stays and total costs of hospitalization (all p<0.05).ConclusionsCOVID-19 pandemic is threatening the stroke care systems. Measures must be taken to minimize the collateral damage caused by COVID-19.
Highlights
Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the stroke care systems have been seriously affected because of social restrictions and other reasons
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has developed into a global pandemic since it first spread in mainland China in late 2019
The COVID-19 pandemic was most severe in mainland China in January and February 2020 (There were 11,791 new cases and 213 deaths in January, and 68,033 new cases and 2657 deaths in February [11])
Summary
Since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the stroke care systems have been seriously affected because of social restrictions and other reasons. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has developed into a global pandemic since it first spread in mainland China in late 2019. This pandemic has been causing a global public health event and a global health threat [1], due to COVID19 itself, and all other diseases which are directly or indirectly affected. Some media and doctors noticed a drop in admissions for acute myocardial infarction patients [6, 7] and stroke patients [8], while their morbidities are rarely possible to decline during the pandemic.
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