Abstract
PurposeThis review aims to evaluate the evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on patients with stroke.Design/methodology/approachThe author carried out a review following the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) for a review article. PubMed, the Web of Science and CINAHL Plus Full Text were searched from January 2019 to October 2020. Twenty-three studies were included in the final review, incorporating a total of 9,819 stroke patients.FindingsThe most commonly reported effects of COVID-19 on patients with stroke were delayed stroke treatment (n = 14 studies), thrombotic, blood and immune system complications (n = 8), increased risk of stroke severity and disability (n = 6), increased mortality (n = 8), elevated D-dimer levels (n = 4), comorbidity and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (n = 6) and prolonged hospitalization (n = 4).Originality/valueCOVID-19 has affected patients with stroke in various ways, either directly or indirectly, prior to admission or in hospital. The findings should help guide further investigation of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on patients with stroke and help to establish proper guidelines for the provision of efficient treatment for affected patients.
Highlights
Stroke is the foremost cause of death and disability globally, taking almost 6.5 million lives each year [1]
As there has been only limited investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on patients with stroke, this review aims to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on patients with stroke
Fourteen studies reported the impact of COVID-19 in delaying stroke treatment, eight studies reported on thrombotic, blood and immune system complications, six on stroke severity, two on level of disability, eight on mortality, four on D-dimer levels, five on comorbidities, three on acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and four on hospitalization (Table 3)
Summary
Stroke is the foremost cause of death and disability globally, taking almost 6.5 million lives each year [1]. In 2016, approximately 13.7 million people had a primary stroke. Around 2.7 million people died as a result of ischemic stroke, and 2.8 million deaths were due to hemorrhagic stroke [2, 3]. Notwithstanding the improvement in stroke treatment, the mortality rate is increasing [4]. At the beginning of December 2019, the first novel pneumonia cases of unknown origin were recognized in Wuhan, Hubie province, China [5] and later identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or COVID-19 [6]. As of February 2020, a total of almost 81,000 COVID-19 cases had been confirmed globally. On October 3, 2020, COVID-19 has killed around 1 million people from all over the
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