Clinical Outcome of Acute Ischemic Strokes in Patients with COVID-19

Introduction: Acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and thrombotic events (TEs) were reported in patients with COVID-19. Clinical outcome of AIS in the course of COVID-19 remains unknown. We compared early clinical outcome and mortality of COVID-positive (+) patients admitted for AIS with COVID-negative (-) ones. We hypothesized that COVID+ patients would have poorer clinical outcomes and present a higher rate of TEs and mortality compared with COVID- ones. Methods: In this multicentric observational retrospective study, we enrolled patients over 18 years old admitted for AIS in 3 stroke units of the Parisian region during lockdown from March 17, 2020, to May 2, 2020. COVID-19 status as well as demographic, clinical, biological, and imaging data was collected retrospectively from medical records. Poor outcome was defined as modified Rankin score (mRS) 3-6 (3-6) at discharge. We also compared TE frequency and mortality rate through a composite criterion in both groups. Results: Two hundred and sixteen patients were enrolled; mean age was 68 years old, and 63% were male. Forty patients were CO-VID+ (18.5%) and 176 were COVID-. Obesity was statistically more frequent in the COVID+ group (36 vs. 13% p < 0.01). The percentage of patients with mRS (3-6) at discharge was higher in the COVID+ group compared with the COVID- group (60 vs. 41%, p = 0.034). The main predictor of presenting a mRS (3-6) at discharge was high NIHSS score at admission (OR, CI 95%: 1.325, 1.22-1.43). Mortality rate was higher in the COVID+ group (12 vs. 3.4%, p = 0.033) as well as TE frequency (15 vs. 2.8%, p < 0.01). Conclusion: In this study, patients with AIS infected by SARS-CoV-2 showed a poorer early outcome than COVID- ones. However, when compared to other factors, COVID-19 was not a significant predictor of poor outcome. Vascular morbidity and mortality rates were significantly higher in the COVID+ group compared with the COVID- group.