New study to examine possible link between Covid-19 and stroke

Dr Will Whiteley (Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences) is leading a new study, the largest study of its kind in the world, to understand whether Covid-19 infection can lead to an increased risk of suffering a stroke.

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 stroke doctors around the globe have reported that Covid-19 may cause life-threatening strokes in some people. Researchers have suggested the virus could be increasing the chance of blood clots forming that travel to the brain, block blood flow and cause stroke.

Funded by The Stroke Association the study, which  gets underway this month, will use data from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Data Science Centre at Health Data Reseach UK (HDR UK).  This research partnership  will enable researchers from across the UK to work together to investigate the links between Covid-19 and stroke, using health information from nearly all UK adults - around 65 million people.

The study aims to find out how much Covid-19 increases someone’s risk of stroke. It will also establish which Covid-19 patients are most at risk of having a stroke and if Covid-19 poses a greater threat than other known risk factors for stroke including other viruses and health conditions, such as heart disease. If they find that there is an increased risk in some groups, this will give clinicians the opportunity to provide timely preventative treatment.

By working in collaboration, researchers and data experts expect findings in just a year. 

Dr Rubina Ahmed, Research Director, Stroke Association said: “Stroke already strikes every five minutes and we’re extremely concerned that Covid-19 may lead to more strokes, destroying more lives. Equally concerning are reports that stroke patients who have Covid-19 may be younger, and experience more severe effects of stroke, including death [4]. Severe illness due to Covid-19 is a challenge enough– but it’s worrying that a deadly stroke might also be on the way."

Dr William Whiteley said: “So far studies of Covid-19 and stroke have been small. More data will improve our understanding of the risks of stroke after Covid-19 infection. With the funding of the Stroke Association and access to the data and research community at the BHF Data Science Centre, we will be able to accurately detect even the smallest increase in risk of stroke across different groups of people. We can then better inform patients and health care professionals about Covid-19 and risk of stroke.”