Dados do Trabalho

Título

Has the impact of cerebrovascular diseases changed during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Resumo

Introduction: Stroke, both ischemic and hemorrhagic, is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, patients were afraid to seek medical care for fear of contracting COVID while health professionals were, amid the search for beds to care for all patients with respiratory symptoms, alerts for the association of COVID with stroke, in addition to strict precautions so that patients do not contract COVID after hospitalization. Objective: To describe the number of patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) and their respective outcomes from March 2019 to February 2022. To describe the number of patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the period of March from 2020 to February 2022. To assess whether there was a difference in the incidence of cerebrovascular diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in a private hospital in Fortaleza. Methodology: The study design was cross-sectional, observational, descriptive, evaluating patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke and CVT from March 2019 to February 2022 who had a diagnosis of COVID after their hospitalization. Patients who did not have a stroke confirmed by imaging or clinical findings were excluded from the study. Data were collected from the patients' medical records. The study is an arm of the approved research project at the Hospital's CEP. Results: From March 2019 to February 2020, the year in which the pandemic had not started, 85 patients were hospitalized, mean age 75 years, 53% female, 74% with stroke, 26% stroke, 14% death. From March 2020 to February 2021, 95 patients were hospitalized, mean age 72 years, 55% female, 77% stroke, 17% stroke, 6% CVT, 15.7% death, 3.1% COVID+. From March 2021 to February 2022, 90 patients were hospitalized, mean age 72 years, 55% female, 79% stroke, 6% stroke, 5% CVT, 14.4% death, 10% COVID +. Conclusion: The number of hospitalizations for stroke was not impacted in the 24 months of the pandemic. However, an increase in the incidence of CVT related to COVID+ patients was observed in most cases, which corroborates the association found in the literature. Regarding contamination by COVID after admission, there is no evidence that patients hospitalized for stroke contracted it.

Palavras Chave

Stroke; cerebrovascular disease; COVID-19 pandemic