New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System treated five young stroke patients with COVID-19 during a two-week period ending April 7. Usually, the health system sees one stroke patient under 50 every three weeks, according to a research letter documenting the cases in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Of the five recent stroke patients, four were relatively healthy. Two were in their 30s with no known risk factors.
“We’re seeing a startling number of young people who had a minor cough, or no recollection of viral symptoms at all, and they’re self-isolating at home like they’re supposed to — and they have a sudden stroke,” Adam Dmytriw, MD, a radiologist at the University of Toronto who’s researching the phenomenon, told the Times.
The publication noted strokes are occurring in a small number of COVID-19 patients and may be tied to excessive blood clotting caused by the virus.
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