Findings revealed by comparison to matched hospitalized COVID-19 patients without neurological involvement<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) — For hospitalized COVID-19 patients with altered mental status or stroke upon admission, there is a higher risk for in-hospital mortality independent of disease severity, according to a study published online Dec. 18 in Neurology<\/em>.<\/p>\n Emad Nader Eskandar, M.D., from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, and colleagues compared outcomes for 4,711 hospitalized COVID-19 patients with and without neurological involvement (acute stroke, new or recrudescent seizures, altered mentation with normal imaging, and neuro-COVID-19 complex).<\/p>\n The researchers found that 12 percent of the patients had neurological issues of sufficient concern to warrant neuroimaging. Compared with 1,743 COVID-19 patients matched for age and disease severity admitted during the same period who did not have neurological involvement, there was a higher risk observed for mortality among patients with altered mentation (odds ratio, 1.39) or radiologically confirmed stroke (odds ratio, 3.1).<\/p>\n “While other biomarker factors also predict mortality, measures to identify and treat such patients may be important in reducing overall mortality of COVID-19,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n <\/i><\/p>\n