In a new study from Weill Cornell Medical College, researchers found a new scoring system based on a person’s medical data may help predict who is at higher risk for having a stroke when hospitalized with COVID-19.
The scoring system – which was as effective at predicting stroke risk as computer models – found people with four or more risk factors related to their medical history and condition at the time of hospital admission were 10 times more likely to have a stroke than those with fewer risk factors.
The scoring system was developed using the American Heart Association’s COVID-19 registry, a nationwide database that includes medical and demographic information about people hospitalized for COVID-19, their treatment, and cardiovascular risk factors.
As of Dec. 7, the registry included more than 63,000 patient records from 170 registry sites.
In the study, the team analyzed data for 21,420 adults hospitalized for COVID-19 at 122 U.S. health centers for a full year beginning in March 2020.
Overall, 1 in 65 hospitalized adults had a stroke. The patients’ average age was 61.
They identified six factors that helped predict who was at highest risk for stroke:
A previous stroke; not having a fever; no history of lung disease; a high white blood cell count; high blood pressure; and elevated systolic blood pressure, which is the top number in a blood pressure reading that measures the force the heart exert each time it beats.
Those who had at least four of the six factors were 10 times more likely to have a stroke than those who had fewer risk factors.
They got the same results using an artificial intelligence-based computer model to predict the patients’ stroke risk.
Stroke is the fifth-leading cause of death in the U.S. As the pandemic continues, researchers say the evidence is emerging that COVID-19 may increase the risk for stroke and poor outcomes.
If you care about stroke, please read studies about small surgery that can prevent strokes in people with heart issues, and inexpensive drug combo that could protect your heart health, prevent stroke.
For more information about Covid, please see recent studies that current COVID-19 vaccines cannot effectively prevent omicron infection, and results showing that Omicron can be neutralized by a booster dose.
The study was presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference and was conducted by Dr. Alexander E. Merkler et al.
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