Mechanical Thrombectomy in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Emergency Preparedness for Neuroscience Teams (original) (raw)

an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) caused an international outbreak. The World Health Organization designated this as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, with over 200 countries affected worldwide. As of April 24, 2020, there were 2 790 986 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 195 775 deaths worldwide, with the United States, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Turkey, and Iran surpassing China in the number of confirmed cases. 1 In a consecutive series of 221 patients with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to a hospital in Wuhan, China, acute ischemic stroke occurred in 11(5%) of patients with a broad range of stroke subtypes. 2 These patients with stroke were older, more likely to have cardiovascular risk factors, presenting with severe COVID-19 with multiple organ involvement. Of note, presence of COVID-19 in these patients does not imply that COVID-19 was the mechanism leading to the patient's stroke. Shortages of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as N95 masks, facial shields, hand sanitizer, and cleansing wipes have presented a major challenge in the allocation of resources, as healthcare workers are frontline in the treatment