BACKGROUND:
Reperfusion therapy is the most important recent advance in early treatment for acute ischemic stroke, but remains underused and the timing of administration of treatment continues to be unacceptably delayed. The complexity of the decision tree and risk of treatment may be limiting use in the emergency department (ED) when those directing the therapy have limited knowledge and less comfort with administration of the drug. This review supports the hypothesis that utilizing telestroke to increase the Stroke Neurology expertise early in the stroke code in an organized stroke code process in a metropolitan hospital ED will improve the rate of use of reperfusion therapy and decrease the door-to-drug (DTD) times.
METHODS and RESULTS:
Telestroke was used to allow for Stroke Neurology presence and leadership in a redesigned stroke code process at 2 busy metropolitan hospitals beginning in 2009 at St. Joseph’s Hospital and 2010 at St. John’s Hospital.
CONCLUSION:
Telemedicine run stroke codes in a busy metropolitan ED resulted in increased use of reperfusion therapy and dramatic decreases in DTD times.
Implementation of the Protocol of Early Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke established for the first time at a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro
