Impact of COVID-19 on acute ischemic stroke care at henry ford Hospital's Detroit and West Bloomfield Campuses

Background: Coronavirus 2019 (COVID19) has impacted acute stroke (AS) care with several reports globally showing drops in AS volumes during the pandemic We studied the impact of COVID19 on AS and transient ischemic attack (TIA) care in a health system serving Southeast Michigan as we rolled out a policy aimed at limiting admissions and transfers Methods: In this retrospective study conducted at 2 hospitals, we included consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) for whom a Stroke Alert (SA) was activated during the period 3/20 to 5/20/20 (COVID) and a similar period in 2019 (pre-COVID) We compared demographics, time metrics, and discharge outcomes Results: 264 patients were seen pre-COVID compared to 121 during COVID (p<0 001) Patients seen during COVID had an equal proportion of males (55% vs 51%, p=0 444), were majority African American (57 vs 58%, p=0 74), but had a higher presenting NIHSS (median: 5 vs 2, p=0 01) and longer times since last-known-well to ED arrival (median: 9 4 vs 4 8 hours, p=0 03) compared to pre-COVID Fewer patients were transferred from other centers (42 vs 27% p=0 008) SA activation on arrival (median: 9 6 vs 15 min, p=0 004) and imaging initiation from arrival (median: 26 4 vs 34 8 min, p=0 042) were faster as well as a trend toward statistical significance for time to tPA administration (median: 37 8 vs 51 min, p=0 051) compared to pre-COVID There were higher rates of AS and TIA (69% vs 55%) and lower rates of stroke mimics (17 vs 37%, p<0 001) Patients discharged from the stroke unit had significantly higher discharge NIHSS (median: 3 vs 2, p=0 002) and were more likely to have an unfavorable discharge mRS (3-6) (56 vs 33%, p=0 004) There were no significant differences in medical, social histories, time to first pass for patient undergoing thrombectomy and stroke etiologies between the groups In 2020, 9 patients (8%) were COVID19 positive, 2 had unfavorable mRS 3-5 while 3 died Conclusion: There was greater than 50% reduction in stroke admissions during the COVID19 pandemic which is consistent with other reports Although patients were managed more quickly, they tended to have more severe strokes, fewer stroke mimic diagnoses, and worse outcomes compared to patients treated in the pre-COVID period