The investigation of the frequency of COVID-19 in patients with a history of stroke

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: The emergence of the coronavirus in 2019 became a global epidemic disease. According to the World Health Organization, people with a history of chronic diseases such as brain stroke are among the main groups at risk of contracting COVID-19. Therefore, this study was performed with the aim of the determination amount of the frequency of contracting COVID-19 in stroke patients. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 100 patients with a history of stroke referred to Imam Hossein Hospital in Tehran (Iran) between 2019 and 2022, which had all the inclusion criteria in the study. The demographic information including (gender, weight, height) and clinical information was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS version 24 software. Results: The average age of the studied patients was 63 years. Among them, 53 people (53%) were infected with COVID-19. The most of underlying diseases were related to high blood pressure. All cases of stroke in patients with COVID-19 were associated with thrombotic type, and half of the other cases included involvement in large cerebral vessels. Lymphocyte count, CRP, and ESR levels were relatively higher in stroke patients with COVID-19, but there were observed no cases of pleural effusion and pericardial effusion associated with COVID-19 in stroke patients. In all of the patients with COVID-19, pulmonary involvement was observed in the Peripheral/Perihillar area. Discussion and Conclusion: According to the results and data of this research, the probability of infecting COVID-19 is higher in people with a history of stroke, and these patients have more severe strokes and more mortality than stroke patients without contracting COVID-19.