Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on ischemic stroke admissions and in-hospital mortality in North-West Spain. Issue 7 (October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Meza, Herbert Tejada; Lambea Gil, Álvaro; Saldaña, Agustín Sancho; Martínez-Zabaleta, Maite; Juez, Patricia de la Riva; Martínez, Elena López-Cancio; Apilánez, María Castañón; Isasi, María Herrera; Enguita, Juan Marta; Alfonso, Mercedes de Lera; Arenillas, Juan F; Olaizola, Jon Segurola; Fernández, Juan José Timiraos; Sánchez, Joaquín; Castellanos-Rodrigo, Mar; Roel, Alexia; Menéndez, Ignacio Casado; Freijo, Mar; Rodriguez, Alain Luna; Portilla, Enrique Palacio; López, Yésica Jiménez; Castro, Emilio Rodríguez; Rivas, Susana Arias; García, Javier Tejada; Rodríguez, Iria Beltrán; Julián-Villaverde, Francisco; García, Maria Pilar Moreno; Trejo-Gabriel-Galán, José María; Iñiguez, Ana Echavarría; Juste, Carlos Tejero; Lázaro, Cristina Pérez; Moreno, Javier Marta; on behalf of the NORDICTUS Investigators, ;
• Is Part Of: International journal of stroke. Volume 15:Issue 7(2020)
• Page Start: 755
• Page End: 762
• Publication Date: 2020-10
• Subjects: Stroke -- stroke care -- mortality -- Spain -- COVID-19 -- ischemic stroke; 616.8005
• DOI: 10.1177/1747493020938301
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1747-4930

Abstract

Background and purpose: Spain has been one of the countries heavily stricken by COVID-19. But this epidemic has not affected all regions equally. We analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital stroke admissions and in-hospital mortality in tertiary referral hospitals from North-West Spain. Methods: Spanish multicenter retrospective observational study based on data from tertiary hospitals of the NORDICTUS network. We recorded the number of patients admitted for ischemic stroke between 30 December 2019 and 3 May 2020, the number of IVT and EVT procedures, and in-hospital mortality. Results: In the study period, 2737 patients were admitted with ischemic stroke. There was a decrease in the weekly mean admitted patients during the pandemic (124 vs. 173, p<0.001). In-hospital mortality of stroke patients increased significantly (9.9% vs. 6.5%, p = 0.003), but there were no differences in the proportion of IVT (17.3% vs. 16.1%, p = 0.405) or EVT (22% vs. 23%, p = 0.504). Conclusion: We found a decrease in the number of ischemic stroke admissions and an increase in in-hospital mortality during the COVID-19 epidemic in this large study from North-West Spain. There were regional changes within the network, not fully explained by the severity of the pandemic in different regions.