Influence of the first wave of covid-19 pandemic on numbers of admitted ischemic stroke patients, on their diagnostics and therapy
Abstract
The first wave of COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of all of us in some way. There was an assumption that at the time of the pandemic, there were lower numbers of hospitalized patients, not only with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke, because of people's fear of getting infected with COVID-19 virus in hospital facilities.
Moreover, there was a concern about the negative impact of the regimen measures on the diagnostics and treatment of patients with ischemic stroke. We carried out a retrospective analysis of 191 patients admitted to our department with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke in a 3-month period of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic from March to May 2020 and in a 3-month period from March to May 2019.
The number of ischemic stroke patients hospitalized at Regional Hospital Liberec during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic (3-5/2020) was slightly higher than during a comparable time a year ago (3-5/2019). Regarding the observed times of therapeutic procedures and the clinical outcome of patients with ischemic stroke, there were minimal, statistically non-significant, differences.
The first wave of COVID-19 pandemic affected neither the numbers of patients with ischemic stroke nor their diagnostics and therapy at Regional Hospital Liberec.