Can Being on a Ventilator Cause a Stroke

At commencement, Pam Hutton idea her case of COVID-xix would exist no big deal.

"I just thought I had allergies, honestly," the 44-year-old Canton woman said.

Pam Hutton

She and her married man had tested positive for the illness caused past the novel coronavirus in April of 2020. After a few days of isolating at habitation and monitoring their symptoms, Pam decided to seek medical attention when her oxygen levels – measured by a pulse oximeter – began to drop.

She was admitted to the infirmary in her hometown, and her symptoms became worse.

"I had shortness of jiff, loss of smell, loss of taste, massive headaches – off the chart headaches. I've had headaches all my life, but I had never felt that kind of pain ever. It was so excruciating," Pam said.

Inside two days of arriving in the hospital, Pam had a stroke – a complexity that a small percentage of people infected with COVID-19 feel.

What causes a stroke?

Strokes happen when the encephalon's blood supply is cut off, such every bit when a claret clot or blockage occurs (ischemic stroke) or an artery in the brain ruptures (hemorrhagic stroke). Ischemic strokes are much more mutual than hemorrhagic, and this is the blazon of stroke Pam experienced.

"There are three ways a blockage of an artery can occur. One is an injury to the artery itself, usually a trauma. The other way is an anatomical abnormality of those blood vessels, and sometimes nosotros discover that after the fact," said Deepak Nair, MD, an OSF HealthCare neurologist who specializes in stroke and critical care. Dr. Nair was one of several neurologists involved in Pam'southward intendance at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria.

"The third is something in the claret that is increasing the run a risk of clotting, and that's where COVID-19 comes in."

The link between COVID-19 and stroke

Pam is just 1 of the scattering of patients Dr. Nair has seen in several months who have had a stroke after a COVID-xix diagnosis. Almost of them, he said, had an underlying adventure factor that may have put them at increased gamble of a stroke earlier their exposure to the novel coronavirus.

At that place is enough bear witness that physicians and researchers suspect a connection between COVID-19 and stroke, though the human relationship and risks are not even so clear.

"We practise know that there are some specific mechanisms that COVID-19 is causing that increase the chances of stroke. But in that location are probably multiple factors at play, and many of those are not understood," Dr. Nair said.

In Pam'due south case, there appeared to be 2 factors at play: the formation of a large claret clot and the narrowing of one of her arteries.

The effects of COVID-19

A virus such every bit the 1 that causes COVID-xix can cause changes in the way our cells function. Information technology also triggers our immune organisation's response, which naturally produces chemicals in our bodies that cause more changes to how we unremarkably role.

Pam Hutton and Family

These biological changes tin can increase the hazard of forming a blood jell, increasing the risk of stroke.

It'due south also plausible, Dr. Nair explained, that increased clotting in the blood could take been a complication of a medication used to treat COVID-xix. This is not unique to COVID-xix and has been observed in other infections that tin can cause serious illness.

All of this has to be taken into context with a person's wellness history and underlying conditions. 1 risk factor alone is usually not enough to cause a stroke.

"It's very unusual for the states to have a singular reason that somebody had a stroke. When we see patients of stroke, they already accept accumulated multiple risk factors, and information technology's challenging to say how much each one contributed," Dr. Nair said.

While Pam's age was not a major take chances cistron at just 44 years, and she was otherwise healthy, she was treated for a brain tumor.

Reducing risk

While it's hard to say exactly how an illness known for attacking the respiratory arrangement led to Pam'southward stroke, she and Dr. Nair hold that outcomes similar hers are a good reason to try to prevent COVID-19 infections.

Dr. Nair stressed that anyone with risk factors for stroke – diabetes, a history of smoking, high claret pressure, or loftier cholesterol – would exist smart to protect themselves from COVID-19 and complications from the disease.

While Pam has recovered from COVID-19, she even so has some lingering effects of stroke – numbness and some difficulty finding the right give-and-take at times.

"I'one thousand feeling OK. I'1000 doing things with my mind like puzzles, word searches, and doing everything I can on my cease to get therapy," she said.

And she's taking the COVID-19 pandemic more seriously.

"I wanted to share my story for people who don't think this is real, who recall this can't happen to a 44-yr-onetime adult female," she said.

Though she knows information technology'south unlikely she could exist infected over again with COVID-19, she wears a mask whenever she leaves her home, even to visit family unit, and encourages others to do the same.

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Source: https://www.osfhealthcare.org/blog/can-covid-19-cause-a-stroke/