Stroke Care During the First and the Second Waves of the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Community Hospital.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection may alter a stroke course; thus, we compared stroke course during subsequent pandemic waves in a stroke unit (SU) from a hospital located in a rural area. A retrospective study included all patients consecutively admitted to the SU between March 15 and May 31, 2020 ("first wave"), and between September 15 and November 30, 2020 ("second wave"). We compared demographic and clinical data, treatments, and outcomes of patients between the first and the second waves of the pandemic and between subjects with and without COVID-19.