Abstract
Background and Objectives
Declines in stroke admission, IV thrombolysis (IVT), and mechanical thrombectomy volumes were reported during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a paucity of data on the longer-term effect of the pandemic on stroke volumes over the course of a year and through the second wave of the pandemic. We sought to measure the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of stroke admissions, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), IVT, and mechanical thrombectomy over a 1-year period at the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021) compared with the immediately preceding year (March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020).
Methods
We conducted a longitudinal retrospective study across 6 continents, 56 countries, and 275 stroke centers. We collected volume data for COVID-19 admissions and 4 stroke metrics: ischemic stroke admissions, ICH admissions, IVT treatments, and mechanical thrombectomy procedures. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases.
Results
There were 148,895 stroke admissions in the 1 year immediately before compared with 138,453 admissions during the 1-year pandemic, representing a 7% decline (95% CI [95% CI 7.1–6.9]; p < 0.0001). ICH volumes declined from 29,585 to 28,156 (4.8% [5.1–4.6]; p < 0.0001) and IVT volume from 24,584 to 23,077 (6.1% [6.4–5.8]; p < 0.0001). Larger declines were observed at high-volume compared with low-volume centers (all p < 0.0001). There was no significant change in mechanical thrombectomy volumes (0.7% [0.6–0.9]; p = 0.49). Stroke was diagnosed in 1.3% [1.31–1.38] of 406,792 COVID-19 hospitalizations. SARS-CoV-2 infection was present in 2.9% ([2.82–2.97], 5,656/195,539) of all stroke hospitalizations.
Discussion
There was a global decline and shift to lower-volume centers of stroke admission volumes, ICH volumes, and IVT volumes during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the prior year. Mechanical thrombectomy volumes were preserved. These results suggest preservation in the stroke care of higher severity of disease through the first pandemic year.
Declines in stroke admission, IV thrombolysis (IVT), and mechanical thrombectomy volumes were reported during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a paucity of data on the longer-term effect of the pandemic on stroke volumes over the course of a year and through the second wave of the pandemic. We sought to measure the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the volumes of stroke admissions, intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), IVT, and mechanical thrombectomy over a 1-year period at the onset of the pandemic (March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021) compared with the immediately preceding year (March 1, 2019, to February 29, 2020).
Methods
We conducted a longitudinal retrospective study across 6 continents, 56 countries, and 275 stroke centers. We collected volume data for COVID-19 admissions and 4 stroke metrics: ischemic stroke admissions, ICH admissions, IVT treatments, and mechanical thrombectomy procedures. Diagnoses were identified by their ICD-10 codes or classifications in stroke databases.
Results
There were 148,895 stroke admissions in the 1 year immediately before compared with 138,453 admissions during the 1-year pandemic, representing a 7% decline (95% CI [95% CI 7.1–6.9]; p < 0.0001). ICH volumes declined from 29,585 to 28,156 (4.8% [5.1–4.6]; p < 0.0001) and IVT volume from 24,584 to 23,077 (6.1% [6.4–5.8]; p < 0.0001). Larger declines were observed at high-volume compared with low-volume centers (all p < 0.0001). There was no significant change in mechanical thrombectomy volumes (0.7% [0.6–0.9]; p = 0.49). Stroke was diagnosed in 1.3% [1.31–1.38] of 406,792 COVID-19 hospitalizations. SARS-CoV-2 infection was present in 2.9% ([2.82–2.97], 5,656/195,539) of all stroke hospitalizations.
Discussion
There was a global decline and shift to lower-volume centers of stroke admission volumes, ICH volumes, and IVT volumes during the 1st year of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the prior year. Mechanical thrombectomy volumes were preserved. These results suggest preservation in the stroke care of higher severity of disease through the first pandemic year.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Tidsskrift | Neurology |
| Vol/bind | 100 |
| Udgave nummer | 4 |
| Sider (fra-til) | E408-E421 |
| Antal sider | 14 |
| ISSN | 0028-3878 |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - 2023 |
| Udgivet eksternt | Ja |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:This was an investigator-initiated study. As this was a continuation of our prior work, the institutional review boards from the coordinating sites (Emory University and Boston Medical Center) considered that the investigators did not have access to protected health information in this follow-up study, and thus, no IRB oversight was required because the study did not meet the US federal description of human subject research. Site-specific IRB approval was obtained where required by local regulations or institutional policy. There was no protective health information data included in this study. The study was funded by the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology research pilot grant. This study was registered under NCT04934020.
Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the following contributors for participating in data collection: Megan Brady, MPH, MSW (Henry Ford); Dawn Scozzari, RHIT (Henry Ford); Elisabeth Dirren, MD (Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland); Claudio Rodríguez Fernández (Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos); Jorge Escartín López (Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos); José Fernández-Ferro (Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos); Beatriz de la Cruz Fernández (Hospital Universitario Rey Juan Carlos); Niloofar Mohammadzadeh as data entry staff in Neurosciences Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Filipe Bessa, MD (Hospital de Santa Maria-Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Portugal); Nina Jancar, MD (Hospital de Santa Maria-Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Portugal); and Neil C. Suryadevara, MD (SUNY Upstate, NY).
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