Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke Previously Vaccinated Against COVID-19

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the clinical characteristics of patients with acute ischemic stroke which were previously vaccinated against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and determine whether the vaccine had impact on outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this observational cohort study we analyzed the clinical characteristics of 58 patients with ischemic stroke, previously vaccinated against COVID-19. We analyzed demographic characteristics, risk factors, type of stroke and outcome. We also compared outcome of those patients with outcome in stroke patients hospitalized in the same period but not vaccinated, patients hospitalized during the pandemic, before vaccination began, and stroke patients hospitalized before the pandemic. Further, we compared mortality rate with mortality rate in patients who had acute ischemic stroke and COVID-19 simultaneously. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 71.0 years, most were male (58.6%), mostly with risk factors for stroke. In the largest number of patients, 17 (29.3%), the etiopathogenetic mechanism of stroke was atherosclerosis of the large arteries. Mortality in vaccinated patients was identical to mortality in stroke patients before pandemic, without significant difference from mortality in unvaccinated patients (13.8% versus 8.6%; p= 0.23). The mean NIHSS and mRS score at discharge for all examined groups were without significant difference. A significant difference in mortality was found between COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative stroke patients (37.8% versus 18.1%; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: There are no significant differences in clinical characteristics of stroke in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated patients. We did not find a connection between vaccination and stroke.