Impact of th Covid-19 Epidemic on Acute Stroke Management

The Covid-19 pandemic is a pandemic of an emerging infectious disease, coronavirus 2019 (Covid-19), caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. It appears in November 2019 in the city of Wuhan, China, and spreads worldwide from February 2020. The first cases of infection in France were confirmed on 24 January 2020. As of April 14, 103,573 cases of infection were confirmed, 32,292 hospitalized cases, including 6,730 in intensive care, with 15,729 deaths recorded1. The most affected regions are Ile de France and the Grand Est (in particular the Haut-Rhin department). Containment of the entire French population was introduced on 17 March, with the aim of reducing the spread of the virus and relieving the burden on the health system, particularly the intensive care units.

This unprecedented health crisis, as well as the social containment measures in themselves, has repercussions on other acute medical pthologies, not directly related to the viral infection. It appears that the number of patients treated for acute stroke has suddenly declined since the beginning of the epidemic.

However, it is not clear whether it is the incidence of stroke that has declined or simply the proportion of patients presenting within the time frame that allows for treatment in the acute phase (by thrombolysis or thrombectomy).