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- Ischemic Stroke During the Pandemic in a Secondary Care Hospital: COVID-19 and Its Collateral Effect...
Ischemic Stroke During the Pandemic in a Secondary Care Hospital: COVID-19 and Its Collateral Effects
Authors : Elif Uygur Kucukseymen, Ebru Balaban, Şenay Öztürk Durmaz
Pages : 338-343
Doi:10.29058/mjwbs.1352867
View : 33 | Download : 44
Publication Date : 2023-12-31
Article Type : Research
Abstract :Aim: Ischemic stroke is among the leading causes of death and disability. Although recent studies have shown a possible relationship between COVID-19 and ischemic stroke, the effect of the pandemic period, which may be another factor in the increase of ischemic stroke risk factors, has not been investigated. Therefore, in current study, we assessed how the COVID-19 pandemic affected ischemic strokes. Material and Methods: Patients were divided as two years before and after the first COVID-19 case in Turkey, and their COVID-19 history, demographic characteristics and clinical features (comorbid diseases, etc.) were obtained. Results: There were 588 ischemic stroke patients pre-pandemic and 694 ischemic stroke patients post-pandemic. In post-pandemic periods, 322 patients were vaccinated, and 288 patients were not. No significant difference in ischemic stroke was found between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups (p = 0.168) and between different vaccine-type groups (p = 0.873). Partial anterior circulation infarct (PACI) was the most common ischemic stroke subtype in both groups; there was no difference between them (p=0.719). The number of ischemic stroke were significantly increased in the post-pandemic period (p<0.001). Although patients in the post-pandemic period were younger (p<0.001), they had more comorbid diseases (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases) for ischemic stroke (p respectively; <0.001, <0.001, 0.032, 0.005). Also, eleven patients (1.6%) had concurrent acute ischemic stroke and COVID-19, and just three (0.4%) had a COVID-19 history. Conclusion: Current study showed an increased number of patients with acute ischemic stroke after the pandemic. This finding, while preliminary, suggests that the pandemic period may be an independent risk factor for ischemic strokeKeywords : COVID-19, iskemik inme, pandemi