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Untreated Stroke As Collateral Damage Of Covid-19: “Time Is Brain” Versus “Stay At Home, David Z. Rose, W. Scott Burgin, Swetha Renati

Neurology Faculty Publications

For decades, neurologists have been advocating that anyone with acute focal deficits report immediately to the closest hospital’s emergency room. Major advancements in the hyperacute diagnosis and treatment of stroke have justified our call-to-action slogan of “Time is Brain”—faster therapy leads to superior outcomes. However, this mantra has been recently usurped by the catchphrase “Stay at Home” during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Fewer patients are presenting to hospitals with acute stroke; our census is down. Presumably the etiology of this phenomenon is either strict “social distancing” that some people may misperceive to exclude even emergent situations, or fears …