A recent study adds to mounting evidence that COVID patients are at increased risk for stroke.
The researchers analyzed data from more than 20,000 US adults hospitalized with COVID-19 between January and November 2020. The analysis found that their risk of stroke was higher than that of patients with other types of infections, among them the flu.
“These findings suggest that COVID-19 may increase the risk of stroke, although the exact mechanism by which this occurs is still unknown,” said lead author Dr. Saate Shakil, a cardiology fellow at the University of Washington.
The new study found that 1.4 percent of COVID patients had a stroke confirmed by diagnostic imaging.
Of these, 52.7 percent had an ischemic stroke (caused by a blockage in blood flow to the brain), 45.2 percent had a hemorrhagic or unspecified stroke, and 2.5 percent had a transient ischemic attack (also known as mini-ACV or AIT).
COVID patients who had a stroke were more likely to be male (64 percent) and older (with an average age of 65 years) than those without a stroke (with an average age of 61 years).
The study revealed that 44 percent of ischemic stroke patients had type 2 diabetes, compared with about a third of patients who did not have a stroke. Eight out of 10 patients with an ischemic stroke had hypertension, compared with 58 percent of patients who did not have a stroke.
A heart rhythm disorder, called atrial fibrillation, was found in 18 percent of patients with ischemic stroke and 9 percent of those without stroke, the study found.
Stroke patients spent an average of 22 days in the hospital, 12 days longer than non-stroke patients.
Deaths in the hospital were more than double among stroke patients (37 percent) than among non-stroke patients (16 percent).
Black patients made up 27 percent of COVID patients in the study, and 31 percent of ischemic stroke cases, according to the findings, which were presented Friday at a virtual meeting of the American Stroke Association ( American Stroke Association).
Research presented at meetings is generally considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
“As the pandemic continues, we find that the coronavirus is not just a respiratory disease, but also a vascular disease that can affect many organ systems,” Shakil said in a meeting press release.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has more information on COVID-19 .