tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
World Neurosurg
. 2020 Jun 8;S1878-8750(20)31274-2.
doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.06.016. Online ahead of print.
Acute Hemorrhage After Intra-Cerebral Biopsy in COVID-19 Patients: A Report of 3 Cases
Aur?lie Degeneffe[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Micha?l Bruneau[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Julien Spitaels[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Nathalie Gilis[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Olivier De Witte[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Alphonse Lubansu[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: When Belgium's COVID-19 outbreak began in March of 2020, our neurosurgical department followed the protocol of most surgical departments in the world and postponed elective surgery. However, patients with tumor-like brain lesions requiring urgent surgery still received treatment as usual, in order to ensure ongoing neuro-oncological care. From a series of 31 patients admitted for brain surgery, three were confirmed as infected by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Case description: We present the clinical outcomes of these three COVID-19 patients, who underwent an intra-cerebral biopsy in our department during April of 2020. All suffered from a diffuse intra-parenchymal hemorrhage post-operatively. Unfortunately, we were not able to identify a clear etiology of these post-operative complications. It could be hypothesized that an active COVID-19 infection status may be related to a higher bleeding risk. The remaining 28 neuro-oncological non-COVID patients underwent uneventful surgery during the same period.
Conclusions: This case series reports the previously unreported and unexpected outcomes of COVID-19 patients suffering from acute hemorrhage after intra-cerebral biopsy procedures. Although no direct relation can yet be established, we recommend the neurosurgical community be cautious in such cases.
Keywords: COVID-19; case report; intra-cerebral biopsy; intra-parenchymal hemorrhage.
. 2020 Jun 8;S1878-8750(20)31274-2.
doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.06.016. Online ahead of print.
Acute Hemorrhage After Intra-Cerebral Biopsy in COVID-19 Patients: A Report of 3 Cases
Aur?lie Degeneffe[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Micha?l Bruneau[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Julien Spitaels[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Nathalie Gilis[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Olivier De Witte[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Alphonse Lubansu[SUP] 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 32526365
- DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.06.016
Abstract
Background: When Belgium's COVID-19 outbreak began in March of 2020, our neurosurgical department followed the protocol of most surgical departments in the world and postponed elective surgery. However, patients with tumor-like brain lesions requiring urgent surgery still received treatment as usual, in order to ensure ongoing neuro-oncological care. From a series of 31 patients admitted for brain surgery, three were confirmed as infected by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Case description: We present the clinical outcomes of these three COVID-19 patients, who underwent an intra-cerebral biopsy in our department during April of 2020. All suffered from a diffuse intra-parenchymal hemorrhage post-operatively. Unfortunately, we were not able to identify a clear etiology of these post-operative complications. It could be hypothesized that an active COVID-19 infection status may be related to a higher bleeding risk. The remaining 28 neuro-oncological non-COVID patients underwent uneventful surgery during the same period.
Conclusions: This case series reports the previously unreported and unexpected outcomes of COVID-19 patients suffering from acute hemorrhage after intra-cerebral biopsy procedures. Although no direct relation can yet be established, we recommend the neurosurgical community be cautious in such cases.
Keywords: COVID-19; case report; intra-cerebral biopsy; intra-parenchymal hemorrhage.