The Hospitalization Rate of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis before and during COVID-19 Pandemic Era: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study

Maryam Vasaghi Gharamaleki, Maryam Habibagahi, Etrat Hooshmandi, Reza Tabrizi, Shahram Arsang-Jang, Zohreh Barzegar, Nima Fadakar, Vahid Reza Ostovan, Abbas Rahimi-Jaberi, Nahid Ashjazadeh, Peyman Petramfar, Maryam Poursadeghfard, Sadegh Izadi, Masoumeh Nazeri, Hanieh Bazrafshan, Zahra Bahrami, Sedigheh Karimlu, Seyedeh Shaghayegh Zafarmand, Mahnaz Bayat, Mohammad Saied SalehiMaryam Owjfard, Saeideh Karimi-Haghighi, Anahid Safari, Banafsheh Shakibajahromi, Beng Lim Alvin Chew, Bradford B. g Worral, Jonathan M. Coutinho, Carlos Garcia-Esperon, Neil Spratt, Christopher Levi, Mahmoud Reza Azarpazhooh, Afshin Borhani-Haghighi

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3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objectives: There are several reports of the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). In this study, we aimed to compare the hospitalization rate of CVST before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (before vaccination program). Materials and methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the hospitalization rate of adult CVST patients in Namazi hospital, a tertiary referral center in the south of Iran, was compared in two periods of time. We defined March 2018 to March 2019 as the pre-COVID-19 period and March 2020 to March 2021 as the COVID-19 period. Results: 50 and 77 adult CVST patients were hospitalized in the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, respectively. The crude CVST hospitalization rate increased from 14.33 in the pre-COVID-19 period to 21.7 per million in the COVID-19 era (P = 0.021). However, after age and sex adjustment, the incremental trend in hospitalization rate was not significant (95% CrI: -2.2, 5.14). Patients > 50-year-old were more often hospitalized in the COVID-19 period (P = 0.042). SARS-CoV-2 PCR test was done in 49.3% out of all COVID-19 period patients, which were positive in 6.5%. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score ≥3 at three-month follow-up was associated with age (P = 0.015) and malignancy (P = 0.014) in pre-COVID period; and was associated with age (P = 0.025), altered mental status on admission time (P<0.001), malignancy (P = 0.041) and COVID-19 infection (P = 0.008) in COVID-19 period. Conclusion: Since there was a more dismal outcome in COVID-19 associated CVST, a high index of suspicion for CVST among COVID-19 positive is recommended.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106468
JournalJournal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases
Volume31
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2022

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Hospitalization rate
  • Prognosis
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Sinus thrombosis
  • Stroke

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