Mortality rate and biomarker expression within COVID-19 patients who develop acute ischemic stroke: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: To describe the mortality difference between acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and non-AIS groups within COVID-19 patients. MATERIALS & METHODS: We included observational studies through September 2020 that categorized COVID-19 patients into two groups (with and without AIS). RESULTS: Eight studies with a total sample size of 19,399 COVID-19 patients were included. The pooled risk difference showed that patients with COVID-19 who developed AIS had significantly higher mortality than those without AIS by a risk difference of 24% (95% CI: 0.10–0.39; p = 0.001). In two studies, the COVID-19+AIS group had significantly higher lymphocytes, procalcitonin and creatinine levels. CONCLUSION: Developing AIS significantly adds to the mortality of COVID-19. Timely interventions to manage those patients are strongly recommended.