Consensus Statement - Suggested Recommendations for Acute Stroke Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Expert Group on Behalf of the Indian Stroke Association

Rohit Bhatia; P N Sylaja; M V Padma Srivastava; Dheeraj Khurana; Jeyaraj Durian Pandian; Vinit Suri; V G Pradeep Kumar; S Kumaravelu; Vikram Huded; Nirmal Surya; Arvind Sharma; Subhash Kaul

doi:10.4103/aian.AIAN_302_20

Consensus Statement - Suggested Recommendations for Acute Stroke Management during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Expert Group on Behalf of the Indian Stroke Association

Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2020 Apr;23(Suppl 1):S15-S23. doi: 10.4103/aian.AIAN_302_20. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
² Department of Neurology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
³ Department of Neurology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
⁴ Department of Neurology, Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab, India.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Apollo Hospital, New Delhi, India.
⁶ Department of Neurology, Baby Memorial Hospital, Kozikhode, Kerala, India.
⁷ Department of Neurosciences, Ramesh Group of Hospitals, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India.
⁸ Department of Neurology, NH Mazumdar Shah Medical Centre, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
⁹ Bombay Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences, Mumbai, India.
¹⁰ Department of Neurology, Zydus Hospitals, B.J.Medical College, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.
¹¹ Department of Neurology, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

Abstract

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 is a global public health emergency. This has led to challenges for healthcare facilities to optimally manage other important medical emergencies. Stroke is an important public health emergency with significant mortality and morbidity. Timely treatment of acute stroke is critical to prevent disability. The current expert consensus statement on behalf of the Indian Stroke Association outlines the issues and suggestions related to the management of stroke during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: Acute stroke; COVID-19; ischemic stroke; thrombectomy; thrombolysis.