The Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital studies the neurological effects after suffering from severe COVID-19
The Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital participates in a study to know the neurological involvement in patients with coronavirus with the aim of design a protocol for early diagnosis and treatment for diseases such as stroke.
This Granada hospital is part of the Andalusian network Neuro-RECA, in which this research led by the Malaga Regional University Hospital and the Malaga Biomedical Research Institute (Ibima) is framed, and which is financed by the extraordinary Covid-19 Fund of the Carlos III Health Institute.
In this prospective study that analyzes the clinical situation of a hundred patients who have been admitted for respiratory disease caused by Covid-19, the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital has incorporated fifteen of them and preliminary results will be known soon.
The hospital is committed to research and, in addition to this study, it recently published an article in the journal Neurology, official publication of the Spanish Neurology Society, in which it determined that stroke can be caused by COVID-19 infection. , since this virus produces an exaggerated inflammatory response in the body, and this reaction favors the formation of thrombi.
This work, whose first signatory is the resident neurologist José María Barrios, confirms that, in addition to vascular risk factors and arrhythmias, the coronavirus can also be a cause of stroke.
Stroke is a brain circulatory problem that occurs suddenly. Most of them are due to the interruption of the flow of blood to an area of the brain due to the occlusion of an artery, with the consequent cerebral infarction (ischemic stroke, 80% of cases). The remaining 20% are due to bleeding in the brain from a ruptured artery (hemorrhagic stroke).
It is a frequent process, with about 200 cases per 100.000 inhabitants each year, which means about 1.800 cases a year in the province of Granada, more than 700 of them are admitted each year to this Granada hospital.
If a specific treatment is not carried out in time, it causes high mortality rates, or else, sequelae in both speech and movement. Therefore, prompt, organized and systematized care in specific units is essential in order to reduce these consequences.
The head of the Neurology service and researcher responsible for the group MP06-CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES Adolfo Mínguez, from ibs.GRANADA, reminds us that "this is a health emergency and if you experience any symptoms, such as a deviation of the mouth, loss of strength or sensitivity in any limb of the body, difficulty speaking or understanding, you should call 112" and insists that "the hospital has separate and safe circuits for caring for these patients."
The Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital has a stroke unit that allows comprehensive and multidisciplinary treatment of patients with this pathology, which require rapid intervention for resolution. It is located in the Neurotraumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital and has a space that has five beds that allows directed and protocolized care to patients who present acute stroke between the first 24 and 72 hours.
Source: Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital. 29/10/2020.
Link to the news: https://www.huvn.es/noticias/el-hospital-virgen-de-las-nieves-participa-en-un-estudio-para-determinar-efectos-neurologicos-tras-padecer-covid19-grave
