There would have been a marked decrease in hospitalizations for subarachnoid hemorrhage during the COVID-19 pandemic, at least during the initial period, according to a study published in Stroke & Vascular Neurology.[2] The study examined patients affected by this disease whose data were present in some databases including the International Classification of Diseases. The researchers analyzed hospitalizations in the months following the initial COVID peak.
Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a pathology that sees bleeding in the area between the brain and that tissue that covers the brain itself. According to the researchers who carried out this study, hospitalizations for this pathology would have decreased by 22.5% between 1 March 2020 and 31 May 2020 compared to the previous year (1 March-31 May 2019). The data came from six different continents for a total of 37 countries.
This is of concern according to Thanh N Nguyen, one of the lead authors of the study and a vascular neurologist and interventionist at Boston Medical Center, given that this condition can cause high mortality rates or permanent disability: «These neurological conditions can be life-threatening. if treatment is not solicited ”, the researcher reports.
