Association of history of cerebrovascular disease with severity of COVID 19
To determine whether a history of cerebrovascular disease (CVD) increases risk of severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) In a retrospective multicenter study, we retrieved individual data from in patients treated March 1 to April 15, 2020 from COVID 19 registries of three hospitals in Saxony, Germany. We also performed a systematic review and meta analysis following PRISMA recommendations using PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library databases and bibliographies of identified papers (last search on April 11, 2020) and pooled data with those deriving from our multicenter study. Of 3762 records identified, 11 eligible observational studies of laboratory confirmed COVID 19 patients were included in quantitative data synthesis. Risk ratios (RR) of severe COVID 19 according to history of CVD were pooled using DerSimonian and Laird random effects model. Between study heterogeneity was assessed using Cochran's Q and I2 statistics. Severity of COVID 19 according to definitions applied in included studies was the main outcome. Sensitivity analyses were conducted for clusters of studies with equal definitions of severity. Pooled analysis included data from 1906 laboratory confirmed COVID 19 patients (43.9% females, median age ranging from 39 to 76 years) Patients with previous CVD had higher risk of severe COVID 19 than those without [RR 2.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.52 2.81; p 0.0001] This association was also observed in clusters of studies that defined severe manifestation of the disease by clinical parameters (RR 1.44, 95% CI 1.22 1.71; p 0.0001) necessity of intensive care (RR 2.79, 95% CI 1.83 4.24; p 0.0001) and in hospital death (RR 2.18, 95% CI 1.75 2.7; p 0.0001) A history of CVD might constitute an important risk factor of unfavorable clinical course of COVID 19 suggesting a need of tailored infection prevention and clinical management strategies for this population at risk.
Journal of Neurology