Acute Stroke in a Young Patient With Coronavirus Disease 2019 in the Presence of Patent Foramen Ovale

Ashraf, Muddasir; Sajed, Sulaiman

We present an interesting case of acute ischemic stroke in a 26-year-old patient with coronavirus disease 2019, who presented to the hospital initially with headache, vomiting, and right-sided numbness and tingling. The initial workup was negative, including computed tomography (CT) of the head without contrast and CT angiography of the head and neck with no acute abnormalities. The patient was diagnosed with migraine and discharged from the emergency department. The patient developed worsening symptoms at home in the form of increasing right-sided dysmetria and weakness, gait ataxia, and dysarthria, prompting her to return to the emergency room. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain was performed and was significant for right-sided acute ischemic cerebellar stroke, with also the involvement of the right cerebellar peduncle. Echocardiogram with a bubble study demonstrated patent foramen ovale. The patient was treated with standard guidelines for stroke.