Successful Endovascular Therapy in COVID-19 Associated Pediatric Ischemic Stroke

Jillella, Dinesh V.; Philbrook, Bryan; Ortolani, Elissa; Grossberg, Jonathan A.; Stani, Tristan; Samuels, Owen; Pimentel, Cederic; Harrison, Amy; Polu, Ashok R.; Siegel, Benjamin I.; McCullough, Ian; Cawley, Michael; Nahab, Fadi

Cerebrovascular diseases attributed to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are uncommon but can result in devastating outcomes. Pediatric acute ischemic strokes are themselves rare and with very few large vessel occlusion related acute ischemic strokes attributed to COVID-19 described in the literature as of date. COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to acute stroke care delays across the world and with pediatric endovascular therapy still in its infancy, it poses a great challenge in facilitating good outcomes in children presenting with acute ischemic strokes in the setting of COVID-19. We present a pediatric patient who underwent endovascular therapy for an internal carotid artery occlusion related acute ischemic stroke in the setting of active COVID-19 and had an excellent outcome thanks to a streamlined stroke pathway involving the vascular neurology, neuro-interventional, neurocritical care, and anesthesiology teams.