INTERVIEW
This is a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic which worries healthcare workers. Since the beginning of the epidemic, admissions for stroke, AIT (transient ischemic attack, when a clot obstructs the circulation of blood in the brain, editor's note ) or even infarction have dropped considerably in hospital. "It is around 50 to 70% in Île-de-France. In the provinces, it's at least 40% reduction," noted Professor Pierre Amarenco, who sounds the alarm on Thursday in the show Without appointment on Europe 1.
"It is very important that people call 15 and they are reassured, they will not come across infected patients. We risk adding a public health disaster to another disaster," worries the head of the service. neurology and the brain attack reception and treatment center at Bichat hospital in Paris.
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"It is very disturbing"
Professor Amarenco explains this drop in admissions by the fear of patients of being infected with the coronavirus. "It is very worrying, because one can wonder if people are not afraid of being infected in the hospital and delay their consultation with their doctor or their call with the 15", estimates the doctor, who wanted reassure patients to encourage them to consult as soon as possible.
"They should not be afraid of being transported to hospital for treatment of their stroke. For TIAs, patients are at very high risk in the hours and days that come to have a definitive major stroke. All advances in recent years are falling to the ground. Patients should not be afraid to come to the hospital, "he said.
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"Stroke is a race against time"
Professor Amarenco also recalled that it is imperative that these pathologies be treated very quickly, under pain of serious consequences. "Regarding stroke, it's a race against time, we only have three hours to treat people, maximum six hours and rarely beyond. If patients do not follow this path, they will keep sequelae and after a wave of Covid there will be a wave of stroke, "he warns.
"We cannot explain a 40 to 50% reduction in strokes by the fall in pollution or a reduction in stress, especially in Paris. Another explanation was that Parisians had gone to the countryside, but these are only the rich people who can do that. Poor people have stayed in Paris and do not call when they have a stroke. We are available to the public to manage these strokes and TIAs. Not all doctors treat the coronavirus ", certifies the doctor.
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"We risk seeing excess mortality at home at the end of confinement"
This observation is identical for infarctions. "It is exactly the same thing, there is a considerable fall. The causes are undoubtedly the same, people prefer to stay at home rather than to go to the hospital", judges professor Amarenco. "There is a risk of excess mortality at home at the end of confinement. This is a negative effect of the coronavirus epidemic."
>> Find the whole of Sans rendez-vous in replay and podcast here