[SARS-CoV-2 infection and ischemic stroke]

The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is causing a huge impact on health, economy, and social dynamics. The world is facing an emerging viral disease for which no specific treatment is available, and many aspects of the clinical behavior of the disease are still unknown, which makes the diagnosis and management a big challenge. Various neurological manifestations have been described and associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Stroke occurs in up to 6% of all patients with COVID-19, a figure that becomes significant given the large number of patients diagnosed to date. The clinical characteristics, presentation, evolution, and prognosis of these patients seem to have peculiarities that have not been seen in previous forms of stroke. Every time younger patients are observed, without a medical history, without infectious symptoms, with serious neurological results that pose a challenging and difficult approach. This review synthesizes the information available on the clinical characteristics and the proposals for its management.