Data from the World Stroke Organization recently specified that hospital visits and admissions for ischemic stroke dropped in Wave 1 compared with the pre-pandemic period, rebounded somewhat during the lull before Wave 2, and dropped further in Wave 3.
A EurekAlert! report said that treatments for stroke-like thrombolysis and endovascular treatment also dropped compared with the pre-pandemic period.
This report also specified that the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic showed fewer hospital visits for stroke, lesser hospital stroke treatments, more delays in therapies, and higher risks of in-hospital fatalities in the subsequent waves of a global health crisis.
Reductions in Stroke Patients
In an Alberta study published in Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. Aravind Ganesh from the University of Calgary, Alberta, together with co-authors wrote, it is unlikely that "the observed reductions in patients" reporting to hospitals with stroke reflect true drops in occurrences of stroke, and more likely that it reflects the pandemic-associated hospital prevention, as reported for other emergencies.
Study authors looked at data on over 19,500 patients in Alberta during the pre-pandemic period from January 2016 to February 2021, and 4,900 patients throughout the five phases of the pandemic from end-February 2020, until the end of March 2021.
As positivity for SARS-CoV-2 is linked to subsequent cardiovascular problems, emergency departments would be expected to see more heart ailments and stroke occurrences in later waves.
Effect of Thrombolysis Treatment on Decline in Stroke Cases
In this new research, the study investigators also wrote that, especially during the second-and third-wave periods of their study, COVID-19 CASES in stroke presentations, rather than declines.
The researchers noted a considerable rise in out-of-hospital stroke deaths as a proportion of all stroke-associated deaths in the province during the pandemic periods.
The study offers additional evidence of the impact of the pandemic on medical emergencies like strokes. Data from Spain revealed a drop of 40 percent or more in admissions for myocardial infarction and stroke, and initial reports from Italy showed a 25-percent decline in admission for stroke and a 14-percent decline in thrombolysis for stroke treatment.
On the contrary, explained the author, they have shown not just that the early COVID-19 crisis was linked to the decrease in presentations for ischemic stroke and use of acute treatments, even the following adjustment for confounding variables, although these problems persisted in the succeeding waves.
Essentially, the reported wrote, the lower population-level occurrence of thrombolysis and endovascular treatment seemed to reflect drops in stroke presentations instead of any therapeutic inertia.
A 'Worrying' Trend
On the contrary, the Charlotte Observer via MSN reported a remarkable spike in deaths linked to heart disease and strokes during the first year of COVID-19, as indicated in a separate study.
This research suggests a "worrying trend" that could be an ongoing issue in the years yet to come, Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, the study author, and Americal Heart Association President, said.
He added, there will be more cardiovascular illnesses than seen in decades, explained Lloyd-Jones in relation to his comment on the study published in JAMA Network Open.
Related information about stroke and COVID-19 is shown on CNN Philippines' YouTube video below:
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