Stroke Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Stroke, including details on treatment, recovery, rehabilitation, signs, symptoms.

Door to thrombolysis: ER reorganization and reduced delays to acute stroke treatment.

Lindsberg PJ, Häppölä O, Kallela M, Valanne L, Kuisma M, Kaste M

Emergency Neurology Services, Department of Neurology, Biomedicum Helsinki,Helsinki, Finland. perttu.lindsberg@hus.fi

The authors reorganized the emergency room (ER) by moving CT to the ER and streamlining triage by prenotification by emergency medical services (EMS), which reduced in-hospital delays and enhanced access to stroke thrombolysis. CT delay dropped from 1 hour 3 minutes +/- 14 minutes in 1999 to 7 +/- 2 minutes in 2004 (p < 0.0001). Door-to-needle time dropped from 1 hour 28 minutes +/- 7 minutes to 50 +/- 3 minutes (p < 0.001), while symptom-to-needle time dropped from 2 hours 44 minutes +/- 6 minutes to 2 hours 5 minutes +/- 4 minutes (p < 0.0001). From 23 patients in 1999, thrombolysis access was increased to 100 patients in 2004 and 183 patients in 2005.

Published 25 July 2006 in Neurology, 67(2): 334-6.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Stroke Research Today. All Rights Reserved.