People with a COVID-19 infection who have an ischemic stroke may be more likely to have bleeding in their brain and worse outcomes during stroke treatments to restore blood flow than people without COVID-19, according to a new study published in the November 9, 2022, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. An ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain and is the most common type of stroke. “While we know that COVID-19 may affect a person’s health in many ways, not much is known about the safety and effectiveness of treatments to restore blood flow for those who have had an ischemic stroke,” said study author João Pedro Marto, MD, of Hospital Egas Moniz in Lisbon, Portugal. “Our study found that people who had an ischemic stroke and COVID-19 had higher rates of brain bleeding and were more likely to have worse outcomes, including death, than those without COVID-19.” The study involved 15,128 people with an average age of 72 from 30 countries across five continents who had an ischemic stroke. All had treatments to restore blood flow. Of the total, 5,848 people, or 39%, received intravenous thrombolysis treatments, which are injections of clot-busting drugs, only. The other 9,280 people, or 61%, received endovascular treatments, which can include using a stent to remove a clot, or both methods. Of the total participants, 853, or 6%, had COVID-19. Researchers looked at how often people had two types of complications: intracerebral hemorrhage, which is a type of bleeding within the brain; and subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is bleeding between the brain and the membrane that covers it. When comparing people with COVID-19 to those without, 9% had intracerebral hemorrhage compared to 5%, 4% had subarachnoid hemorrhage compared to 2%, and 10% had both complications compared to 6%. Read more via the link in bio. #Neurology #Stroke #COVID #Coronavirus #Neuro #Neurological #Wellness #BrainHealth #Variant #Virus