Our aim was to determine the frequency and characteristics of neurological post-COVID-19 syndrome and the diagnostic and therapeutic measures that were used for the treatment of these patients. Data ...were collected for 243 patients examined during the period of 11 May 2021 to 22 June 2022. The inclusion criteria were COVID-19 illness and neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19. The exclusion criteria were non-neurological symptoms, patients who did not suffer from COVID-19, and symptoms that occurred after vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Data for 227 patients with neurological post-COVID-19 symptoms were analyzed. Most patients presented with multiple symptoms, most often headache, cognitive impairment, loss of smell, paresthesia, fatigue, dizziness, and insomnia. Patients were most often referred for consultative examinations, neuroradiological imaging, and EEG. The therapy was mostly symptomatic. Most patients had no change in their symptoms on follow-up visits (53.21%), while positive outcome was found in 44.95% of patients. This study found that neurological post-COVID-19 syndrome appears to be more common in women, and generally, the most common symptoms are headache and cognitive impairment. The gender distribution of symptoms was clearly visible and should be further investigated. There is a need for longitudinal follow-up studies to better understand the disease dynamic.
Stroke is one of the major public health problems and it is the leading cause of death in the world with around 6.5 million deaths per year. Age-specific mortality rates increase with age and are ...higher in men than in women for all age groups, except at the age of 80+ when the mortality rates in women are higher than in men. Women live longer and therefore have a higher lifetime risk of stroke than men. Women have sex-specific risk factors as well as some unrecognized risks that contribute to poor stroke outcomes. Among the traditional risk factors that have a greater impact on stroke in women are hypertension, atrial fibrillation and diabetes mellitus. Risk factors unique to women include preg- nancy, gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, eclampsia and preeclampsia, changes in hormonal status, postmenopausal hormone use and oral contraceptive use. Although in both sexes stroke is most often presented by weakness of one side of the body, face or speech disorders, women may also present with more atypical symptoms of acute stroke compared to men. Women also have a longer delay to treatment, and less frequently receive acute stroke evaluation than men.
