Cerebrovascular Diseases: Significant Complication of COVID-19

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and rapidly spread worldwide and turned to a human life threat pandemic. Severe respiratory illness is the main characteristic symptom of this disease, but coronaviruses are not restricted to the respiratory tract. Likewise, these viruses may invade the central nervous system and have neurologic signs, including headache, nausea, disturbed consciousness, paresthesia, and vomiting. Moreover, the infection of SARS-CoV-2 has been reported in the brains of COVID-19 infected patients. Cerebrovascular diseases are among the various defined complications of SARS-CoV-2. Also, several studies introduce COVID-19 as an independent risk factor for stroke that increases the risk of mortality. Increasing evidence shows that this neuroinvasive virus may cause these neurological insults through direct or indirect mechanisms. Understanding more about the mechanisms by which COVID-19 causes stroke and vascular damages will help prevent these damages. Accordingly, in this review, we attempt to discuss current information about the possible pathways which may mediate the deleterious effect of COVID-19 on the nervous system.

Keywords

COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Stroke, Cerebrovascular disease