Acute Cerebral Ischemic Infarct in a 34-Year-Old Patient After an Asymptomatic COVID-19 Infection: A Case Report

COVID-19 is an infectious disease induced by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), an enveloped RNA coronavirus that primarily has a tropism for the respiratory tract. Respiratory tract symptoms are frequently encountered, but many complications of this disease are still under study, including cardiovascular and neurological syndromes. The latter was linked to a severe disease presentation, but there are no reports on asymptomatic disease presentations. A thirty-four-year-old lady presented to the emergency division for acute right-sided weakness. She was previously healthy, with no history of miscarriages. She had no previous signs or symptoms of any respiratory tract infection or other symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 infection. The physical exam revealed a complete right-sided hemiparesis with no other findings. Her initial blood workup was normal. The echocardiography and a carotid duplex ultrasound were performed and did not show any abnormality. A real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for COVID-19 was negative; however, serology testing including IgM and IgG were positive, suggesting a recent COVID-19 infection. Cardiovascular complications have been reported in COVID-19 patients; however, ischemic stroke in asymptomatic COVID-19 patients has not been previously reported. Our case highlights the risk of thrombotic complications due to SARS-CoV-2 infection even in asymptomatic COVID-19 infected patients.