RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Ischaemic stroke may be a major complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection.Studying and characterising the different aetiological subtypes, clinical characteristics, and functional outcomes may be valuable in guiding patient selection for optimal management and treatment. METHODS: Data were collected retrospectively on consecutive patients with COVID-19 who developed acute focal brain ischaemia (between 1 March and 19 April 2020) at a tertiary university hospital in Madrid (Spain). RESULTS: During the study period, 1594 patients were diagnosed with COVID-19. We found 22 patients with ischaemic stroke (1.38%), 6 of whom did not meet the inclusion criteria. The remaining 16 patients were included in the study (15 cases of ischaemic stroke and one case of transient ischaemic attack).Median baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score was 9 (interquartile range: 16), and mean (standard deviation) age was 73 years (12.8). Twelve patients (75%) were men. Mean time from COVID-19 symptom onset to stroke onset was 13 days. Large vessel occlusion was identified in 12 patients (75%).We detected elevated levels of D-dimer in 87.5% of patients and C-reactive protein in 81.2%. The main aetiology was atherothrombotic stroke (9 patients, 56.3%), with the predominant subtype being endoluminal thrombus (5 patients, 31.2%), involving the internal carotid artery in 4 cases and the aortic arch in one. The mortality rate in our series was 44% (7 of 16 patients). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with COVID-19, the most frequent stroke aetiology was atherothrombosis, with a high proportion of endoluminal thrombus (31.2% of patients). Our clinical and laboratory data support COVID-19-associated coagulopathy as a relevant pathophysiological mechanism for ischaemic stroke in these patients.
RESUMEN
Cluster-like headaches have been described as secondary to several intracranial lesions. We report the case of a 47-year-old man who presented with a throbbing periocular pain associated with lacrimation and red eye. A contralateral epidermoid cyst was detected in the magnetic resonance imaging.
