MY CONTENT

Patients who received IV iodinated contrast in proximity (<8 hours) to CTA/CTP as part of a separate imaging study had a much higher likelihood of core infarct underestimation with RAPID software compared with contrast-naive patients. Over-reliance on RAPID postprocessing for treatment disposition of patients with extended window emergent large-vessel occlusion should be avoided, particularly in cases with recent IV contrast administration.

Consecutive ischemic stroke and TIA admissions (COVID and non-COVID) to the authors' hospital during a 10-week period from March 1 to May 10, 2020 were collected and compared with data from the same time period in 2019. Among 20 patients with COVID-19 and acute ischemic stroke, 15 (75%) had large-vessel occlusion. These patients were young (mean age, 46.5 years), male (93%), without major burden of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, and had a severe stroke presentation. Large vessel occlusions were observed in multiple vessels (40%), uncommonly affected vessels, and atypical locations with a large thrombus burden.