D-dimer level elevation can aid in detection of asymptomatic COVID-19 presenting with acute cerebral infarction

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mainly manifests as a respiratory syndrome, besides causing other complications. Severe COVID-19 may also present with coagulopathy, leading to venous thrombosis and cerebral infarction. Generally, acute stroke is a secondary complication in patients displaying re...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Takeru Umemura, Hirohisa Kondo, Hirotsugu Ohta, Koichiro Futatsuya, Takamitsu Mizobe, Junkoh Yamamoto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2021-03-01
Series:eNeurologicalSci
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405650220300733
Description
Summary:Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mainly manifests as a respiratory syndrome, besides causing other complications. Severe COVID-19 may also present with coagulopathy, leading to venous thrombosis and cerebral infarction. Generally, acute stroke is a secondary complication in patients displaying respiratory syndromes. Here, we present a case of acute stroke in an 84-year-old female patient who did not manifest any respiratory symptoms. The patient had no cough or fever before the stroke onset; nevertheless, COVID-19 PCR test was positive. The patient also had markedly elevated serum D-dimer levels. Our findings suggest that coagulopathy can occur even in a patient with asymptomatic COVID-19 infection, and to our knowledge, this is the first report of such a case. We concluded that elevated D-dimer levels can serve as an additional COVID-19 screening tool in stroke patients.
ISSN:2405-6502