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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Asian J Neurosurg 2021; 16(01): 78-83
DOI: 10.4103/ajns.AJNS_187_20
Original Article

The management and outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 infection in a series of neurosurgical patients

Farzin Farahbakhsh
1   Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
,
Mohsen Rostami
1   Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
,
Alireza Khoshnevisan
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
,
Negin Naderian
3   Department of Neurosurgery, Firoozgar Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
,
Mohammad Ghorbani
4   Division of Vascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery, Firoozgar Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
,
Michael Fehlings
5   Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto
6   Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario
,
Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
7   Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center
8   Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Center, Neurosciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran
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Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted neurosurgical practice worldwide. In Iran, hospitals have halted their routine activities, and most hospital beds have been assigned to COVID-19 patients. Here, we share our experience with 10 neurosurgical cases with confirmed COVID-19. Materials and Methods: From February 24, 2020 to April 20, 2020, we were able to obtain clinical data on ten neurosurgical patients with COVID-19 through a predefined electronic form. Results: Of the 10 patients with COVID-19 on neurosurgical units, eight underwent surgical interventions. The age of the patients ranged from 21 to 75 years and 70% were males. The diagnosis of COVID-19 was based on chest imaging findings and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for coronavirus and an infectious disease specialist and a pulmonologist confirmed the diagnoses. In two cases, there was a significant decrease in O2 saturation intraoperatively. Three patients in this series died during the assessment period. One death was due to respiratory failure induced by the coronavirus infection. The cause of death in other two patients was cardiovascular failure not related to COVID-19. Conclusions: We hope we can provide a reference for future studies and help develop a clearer understanding of neurosurgical practice and outcomes in patients with COVID-19. In the time of COVID-19 pandemic when dealing with neurosurgical emergencies, a conservative approach is recommended. Using committed personal protective equipment, short-time operating procedures or minimally invasive surgery must be considered in the management of emergent patients. Resuming elective surgeries need defining measures needed to ensure patients and health-care providers' safety. Reorganizing the health-care system for telemonitoring released patients can lessen hospital visits.

Key-words:

Coronavirus - coronavirus disease 2019 - neurosurgery

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.




Publication History

Received: 30 April 2020

Accepted: 30 October 2020

Article published online:
16 August 2022

© 2021. Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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