In this special report recently published in Stroke, Smith et al., assembled a multidisciplinary working group to develop consensus-based recommendations and an algorithm for evaluation and treatment of acute stroke patients eligible for endovascular therapy (EVT) during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of minimizing the negative impact of COVID-19 on acute stroke patients and healthcare providers. Three populations of potential thrombectomy patients are highlighted: emergency department (ED) patients with stroke and suspected COVID-19, admitted patients with COVID-19 who develop stroke, and patients with stroke who present to a hospital with constrained resources due to COVID-19. The working group concluded that diagnosis with COVID-19 is not necessarily a contraindication to EVT for stroke. However, particular care must be taken when preparing patients with COVID-19 for EVT to ensure staff safety. In addition, it may be reasonable during these times of extreme resource limitation to modify current EVT protocols including patient selection and post-EVT care, and to avoid EVT in unstable, severely critically ill patients with COVID-19.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.029863
by Marialuisa Zedde and Francesco Cavallieri