Can the Coronavirus Cause Strokes?
by Guest Author
A writer at The Healthy, Colleen Travers, explores the warning signs and precursors of a stroke and whether or not these factors can be linked to increased risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the article titled, Can the Coronavirus Cause Strokes? What Doctors Need You to Know, Colleen talks to Pacific Neuroscience Institute’s Jason Tarpley, MD, PhD and Banner Health’s Jeremy Payne, MD, PhD, as well as about the relationship of the coronavirus and stroke patients.
“The virus seems to infect the lining of the blood vessels,” says Jason Tarpley, MD, PhD, interventional neurologist and director of the Pacific Stroke and Neurovascular Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. “The endothelium, a smooth, inner tissue lining in blood vessels that can prevent clots from forming, gets infected by coronavirus, which then causes a constellation of events that leads to clot formation.” Dr. Tarpley adds that Covid-19 also drives up levels of a protein related to blood clots called D-dimer. “A high D-dimer correlates with a higher rate of mortality,” Dr. Tarpley says.
Dr. Tarpley, MD, PhD, Pacific Stroke and Neurovascular Center
About Jason Tarpley, MD, PhD
Jason W. Tarpley, MD, PhD is a board-certified neurologist with fellowship training in vascular and interventional neurology. He specializes in the clinical care of patients with neurovascular disorders and has specific interest in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral aneurysms, and carotid artery stenosis. He is an investigator in many phase 2 and phase 3 clinical studies examining the safety and effectiveness of innovative therapies in stroke patients. He has published many papers and presented his research at domestic and international conferences.
Contact Us
The Pacific Stroke and Neurovascular Center’s state-of-the-art locations are listed below Or you can schedule an appointment online to speak with one of our experts. Telemedicine visits are available.
Providence Saint John’s Health Center
2121 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90404
310-829-8319 | stroke.center@providence.org
Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center Torrance
4201 Torrance Blvd., Suite 520, Torrance, CA 90503
424-789-6834
Providence St. Joseph’s Medical Center
501 S. Buena Vista Ave., Burbank, CA 90505
818-847-6049
Providence Holy Cross Medical Center
15031 Rinaldi St, Mission Hills, CA 91345
818-365-8051
Or you can schedule an appointment online
Last updated: December 17th, 2021