Clinical Characteristics and Mortality of Intensive Care Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage and COVID-19: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis

Background: Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have reported severe neurologic effects of the infection on the brain. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a particular pathology that can result in these devastating neurologic effects. Objectives: The primary aim of our study is to investigate the possible difference in the clinical and laboratory characteristics of ICH between patients with positive COVID-19 tests and those with negative tests. The potential effect of this difference on the prognosis of the patients during their stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) is a secondary aim of the study. Methods: In this retrospective cohort review, our data were collected from the electronic medical database of the Benghazi Medical Center (BMC) for the period from January 2021 to June 2022. We depended mainly on the admission paper information documented by emergency doctors, and mortality was measured depending on the clinical status after discharge from the ICU. Results: This study included a sample of 72 patients, 34 patients (47.2%) were considered COVID-19 positive, and 38 patients (52.8%) were COVID-19 negative. The difference between groups was significant in ICH score >= 3 (higher in positive patients), INR (lower in positive patients), the incidence of new-onset hypertension (higher in positive patients), location of hematoma (infratentorial in positive patients), and intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) extension (more in positive patients). Also, COVID-19 was significantly associated with ICH score >= 3 (OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.2 - 18.6, p = 0.03, R-2 = 0.16), INR (x = 0.35, 95% CI 0.09 - 0.62, p < 0.003, R-2 = 0.136), risk of ventilation (OR 14.1, 95% CI 3.5 - 56.9, p < 0.001, R-2 = 0.26), hydrocephalus (OR 9.41, 95% CI 2.72 - 32.5, p = 0.001, R-2 = 0.19), infratentorial location (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.1 - 12.5, p = 0.04, R-2 = 0.14), IVH extension (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.2 - 10.4, p = 0.03, R-2 = 0.09), new-onset hypertension (OR 4.2, 95% CI 1.5 - 11.9, p = 0.007, R-2 = 0.10), and mortality (OR 4.9, 95% CI 1.6 - 15.3, p = 0.04, R-2 = 0.15). The difference in survivability between groups was statistically insignificant (X-2 = 0.41, log-rank, P = 0.53). Conclusion: The current study demonstrates, with sufficient evidence, that COVID-19 infection causes a significant change in some critical baseline characteristics like INR values, location, and IVH extension that influence the prognosis of ICH in ICU patients.