Pascal Jabbour, MD, chief of neurovascular surgery and endovascular neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals said that reports of strokes in younger COVID-19 patients is challenging how physicians understand the virus, The Washington Post reports.
The number of COVID-19 patients in the neurosurgery departments at the Philadelphia-based health system and Mount Sinai Health System in New York City have been far higher than expected in recent weeks.
Neurosurgeons in harder-hit areas in the U.S. have noted a significant increase in their typical caseload of strokes, with the virus appearing to cause increased blood clotting in arteries of younger patients leading to severe stroke.
From March 20 to April 10, Thomas Jefferson found that 12 patients treated for large blood clots in their brains had the coronavirus, Dr. Jabbour said in an interview with KYW News Radio. Of the 12 patients, 40 percent were under 50 and had few or no risk factors.
Over a two-week period in April, Mount Sinai recorded a sevenfold increase in the number of sudden stroke cases in young patients.
In recent weeks, Dr. Jabbour has seen some COVID-19 patients with more than one large blood clot in their heads, and noted blood clotting in the veins of some patients, which is highly unusual and more difficult to treat.
Dr. Jabbour has written a paper on the findings, which is currently being reviewed by a medical journal.
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