Study Highlights:
EMBARGOED UNTIL 3 pm CT/4 pm ET, Tuesday, July 10, 2012
DALLAS, July 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Treatment is delivered faster when emergency medical services (EMS) personnel notify hospitals a possible stroke patient is en route, yet pre-notification doesn't occur nearly one-third of the time. That's according to two separate Get With The Guidelines(R)-- Stroke program studies published in American Heart Association journals.
The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association recommends EMS notify hospitals of incoming stroke patients to allow stroke teams to prepare for prompt evaluation and treatment. Quick response is vital for stroke patients, particularly those with ischemic stroke, when a clot cuts off the blood supply to a portion of the brain. Clot-busting drugs can only be given within a limited time -- three to 4.5 hours after the onset of symptoms.
For both studies, researchers examined the records of 371,988 acute ischemic stroke patients transported by EMS to one of 1,585 hospitals participating in the Get With The Guidelines--Stroke quality improvement program between 2003 and 2011.
Pre-notification of hospital by EMS resulted in faster diagnosis and treatment for stroke patients, according to the study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes.
Pre-notification was independently associated with better treatment times:
However, pre-notification occurred in only 67 percent of patients in 2011, only a modest increase from the 58 percent in 2003, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA).
"Despite national guidelines recommending pre-notification by EMS for acute stroke patients, it's disappointing that there's been little improvement," said Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., senior author of both studies and professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of California-Los Angeles. "However, with these powerful new findings demonstrating substantial benefits with pre-notification, we have a tremendous opportunity to make positive changes in this component of stroke care."
Among patients arriving within two hours of symptom onset, patients with EMS pre-notification were more likely to:
See the original post:
Despite Benefit, Hospitals Not Always Alerted of Incoming Stroke Patients