Stroke in Patients with Active COVID-19 Infection: Case Series in a Single Center

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It became evident that severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) not only affects the upper and lower respiratory systems but also all organs expressing angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 receptors, including the central and peripheral nervous systems. In this retrospective study, we aimed to evaluate the characteristics of stroke patients with active SARS-CoV-2 infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective observational study was conducted at a single center, the central state hospital of the North Cyprus, located in Nicosia. We retrospectively analyzed stroke patients who were also diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 from January 2020 to April 2022. All patients were hospitalized, and a total of 33 patients with laboratory and radiological or clinical confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 infection were included in the study. RESULTS: Among the 33 patients, 63.6% were men, and the mean age was 68.9 (SD +/- 16.4). 81.8% had an ischemic stroke, 6.1% had an ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic transformation, and 3.0% had both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke and subdural hematoma. Transient ischemic symptoms were observed in 9.1% of patients. Of these patients, 30.3% had hypertension, 24.2% had diabetes, 12.1% had hyperlipidemia, 9.1% had coronary heart disease, and 21.2% had a previous stroke as a comorbidity. CONCLUSION: In our study, patients had risk factors for stroke, and the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection was correlated with the severity of clinical symptoms of stroke. In addition, lung involvement during infection.