Acute Ischemic Stroke as a Presenting Feature of COVID 19 in a Young Adult
Introduction: Coronavirus primarily affects the respiratory organ and results in respiratory symptoms. However, this newly emergent virus is not entirely known; therefore, not all symptoms are defined yet. Several reports have shown that the virus has a tendency to infect the central nervous system. In this report, we present a patient with COVID 19 and concurrent neurological presentation who was positive for lung CT scan and positive anti COVID 19 antibody. Case presentation: A 35 year old man was admitted to the hospital with vertigo, ataxia and sudden loss of consciousness as the initial symptoms, with the diagnosis of cereberal infarction. Two weeks after the stroke, he developed intermittent fever and headache. Myalgia and dry cough added. Lung CT scan and positive anti COVID 19 antibody confirmed the COVID 19 infection as the definite diagnosis. Conclusion: We recommend to follow up the patient and keep on taking atorvastatin and anti platelete medications (aspirin, plavix) beside risk factor evaluation in ischaemic stroke patients with COVID 19 infection. Also, early therapeutic anticoagulation with LMWH could be considered as a beneficial approach to reduce thromboembolism, but must be balanced against the risk of intracranial haemorrhage, including haemorrhagic transformation of the acute infarct.