The Stroke Unit Story: Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going?

Cerebrovascular Diseases ◽

10.1159/000518934 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Peter Langhorne

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Research ◽

Stroke Unit ◽

Final Section ◽

Evidence Base ◽

Stroke Severity ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Stroke Units ◽

History Of ◽

Stroke Unit Care ◽

Stroke Type

Background: The concept of stroke unit care has been discussed for over 50 years, but it is only in the last 25 years that clear evidence of its effectiveness has emerged to inform these discussions. Summary: This review outlines the history of the concept of stroke units to improve recovery after stroke and their evaluation in clinical trials. It describes the first systematic review of stroke unit trials published in 1993, the establishment of a collaborative research group (the Stroke Unit Trialists’ Collaboration), the subsequent analyses and updates of the evidence base, and the efforts to implement stroke unit care in routine settings. The final section considers some of the remaining challenges in this area of research and clinical practice. Key Messages: Good quality evidence confirms that stroke patients who are looked after in a stroke unit are more likely to survive and be independent and living at home 1 year after their stroke. The apparent benefits are independent of patient age, sex, stroke type, or initial stroke severity. The benefits are most obvious in units based in a discrete ward (stroke ward). The current challenges include integrating effective stroke units with more recent systems to deliver hyper-acute stroke interventions and implementing stroke units in lower resource regions.

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Stroke units: research in practice

10.1093/med/9780199689644.003.0013 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Lalit Kalra

Keyword(s):

Stroke Unit ◽

Stroke Care ◽

Evidence Base ◽

Multidisciplinary Teams ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Stroke Units ◽

Key Points ◽

Stroke Unit Care ◽

Rehabilitation Needs ◽

Therapy Sessions

Key points• Stroke units are the cornerstone of quality stroke care.• The benefits of stroke unit care are supported by a very strong evidence base• In 2007 the National Stroke Strategy mandated that all stroke patients should have prompt access to stroke unit care.• Despite policy and guidelines, only 62% stroke patients were treated on specialist stroke units in 2010.• Patients spend long periods of inactivity on stroke units; multidisciplinary teams need to encourage rehabilitation activities outside therapy sessions.• Rehabilitation needs to be family- and carer-oriented to prepare patients for life after discharge.

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Stroke Rehabilitation 2007: What Should it Be?

International Journal of Stroke ◽

10.1111/j.1747-4949.2007.00146.x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 191-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Helen M. Dewey ◽

Lisa J. Sherry ◽

Janice M. Collier

Keyword(s):

Stroke Unit ◽

Stroke Rehabilitation ◽

Number Needed To Treat ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

High Quality ◽

High Quality Research ◽

Stroke Units ◽

Proven Efficacy ◽

Stroke Unit Care ◽

Medical Wards

Background There are an estimated 62 million stroke survivors worldwide. The majority will have long-term disability. Despite this reality, there have been few large, high-quality randomized controlled trials of stroke rehabilitation interventions. Summary of review There is excellent evidence for the effectiveness of a number of stroke rehabilitation interventions, notably care of stroke patients in inpatient stroke units and stroke rehabilitation units providing organized, goal-focused care via a multidisciplinary team. Stroke units (in comparison with care on general medical wards) effectively reduce death and disability with the number needed to treat to prevent one person from failing to regain independence being 20. Unfortunately, only a minority of stroke patients have access to stroke unit care. The key principles of effective stroke rehabilitation have been identified. These include ( 1 ) a functional approach targeted at specific activities e.g. walking, activities of daily living, ( 2 ) frequent and intense practice, and ( 3 ) commencement in the first days or weeks after stroke. Conclusion The most effective approaches to restoration of brain function after stroke remain unknown and there is an urgent need for more high-quality research. In the meantime, simple, broadly applicable stroke rehabilitation interventions with proven efficacy, particularly stroke unit care, must be applied more widely.

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Abstract T P259: What Should Really be Happening to Our Stroke Patients Post-Acute Care?: A System Best Practice Model for Inpatient Rehab

Stroke ◽

10.1161/str.45.suppl_1.tp259 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 45 (suppl_1) ◽

Author(s):

Shelley Sharp ◽

Elizabeth Linkewich ◽

Jacqueline Willems ◽

Nicola Tahair ◽

Charissa Levy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acute Care ◽

Stroke Unit ◽

Best Practice ◽

Patient Flow ◽

System Capacity ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Practice Model ◽

Term Care ◽

Stroke Unit Care ◽

The Right

Background: A regional Stroke Report Card identified poor performance on system efficiency, effectiveness, and integration of stroke best practice. This engaged regional funders and 17 organizations (11 acute, 6 rehab) to collaborate in stroke system planning. The focus included stroke unit care and access to timely and appropriate rehabilitation, including increased access for severe stroke. Changes in acute care, including pre-hospital, have facilitated access to stroke unit care in the city. A model of patient flow from acute care was needed to understand other system capacity needs. Purpose: To use best practice and benchmarks to delineate post-acute patient flow and facilitate alignment of resources for inpatient rehabilitation. Methods: Administrative data from national reporting and local rehab referral system databases were used to review current system usage from acute care. A model of proportional distribution of cases from acute, specifically to inpatient rehab, was established using provincial benchmarks, evidence informed targets, and organization market share of total inpatient rehab system capacity. Iterative discussions were required to confirm the organizations’ commitment to stroke best practice. New volume and case mix changes were applied to determine capacity and resource planning needs across organizations. Results: The best practice model, approved by all stakeholders, proposes 40% of stroke patients discharged alive from acute care should access inpatient, 13% outpatient rehabilitation and 6% to Complex Continuing Care and Long Term Care. Current practice is 26%, <5% and 13% respectively. A projected volume increase of 278 patients is distributed across 5/6 rehab providers. This results in a total proportional system shift from 20% (n=160) to 41.5% (n =446) of severe patients receiving access to high intensity rehab. A reduction in the overall proportion of moderate and mild stroke patients from 65% (519) to 49.5% (n=534) and 15% (n=119) to 9% (n=96) respectively. Conclusion: Significant investment/redistribution of resources within the system is required to support patient flow and provide care in the right place at the right time. System funder support is critical to create a quality of care (best practice) system.

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Stroke Unit Care for Acute Stroke Patients: An Observational Follow-up Study

Journal of Emergency Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.jemermed.2007.05.003 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 225

Author(s):

Matthew Marion

Keyword(s):

Acute Stroke ◽

Stroke Unit ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

Stroke Unit Care

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Predicting Early Mortality of Acute Ischemic Stroke

Stroke ◽

10.1161/strokeaha.118.022863 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 349-356 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Thomas Gattringer ◽

Alexandra Posekany ◽

Kurt Niederkorn ◽

Michael Knoflach ◽

Birgit Poltrum ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ischemic Stroke ◽

Stroke Unit ◽

Functional Disability ◽

Area Under The Curve ◽

Early Mortality ◽

Stroke Severity ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Derivation Cohort ◽

Temporal Validation

Background and Purpose— Several risk factors are known to increase mid- and long-term mortality of ischemic stroke patients. Information on predictors of early stroke mortality is scarce but often requested in clinical practice. We therefore aimed to develop a rapidly applicable tool for predicting early mortality at the stroke unit. Methods— We used data from the nationwide Austrian Stroke Unit Registry and multivariate regularized logistic regression analysis to identify demographic and clinical variables associated with early (≤7 days poststroke) mortality of patients admitted with ischemic stroke. These variables were then used to develop the Predicting Early Mortality of Ischemic Stroke score that was validated both by bootstrapping and temporal validation. Results— In total, 77 653 ischemic stroke patients were included in the analysis (median age: 74 years, 47% women). The mortality rate at the stroke unit was 2% and median stay of deceased patients was 3 days. Age, stroke severity measured by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, prestroke functional disability (modified Rankin Scale >0), preexisting heart disease, diabetes mellitus, posterior circulation stroke syndrome, and nonlacunar stroke cause were associated with mortality and served to build the Predicting Early Mortality of Ischemic Stroke score ranging from 0 to 12 points. The area under the curve of the score was 0.879 (95% CI, 0.871–0.886) in the derivation cohort and 0.884 (95% CI, 0.863–0.905) in the validation sample. Patients with a score ≥10 had a 35% (95% CI, 28%–43%) risk to die within the first days at the stroke unit. Conclusions— We developed a simple score to estimate early mortality of ischemic stroke patients treated at a stroke unit. This score could help clinicians in short-term prognostication for management decisions and counseling.

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European Stroke Organisation certification of stroke units and stroke centres

European Stroke Journal ◽

10.1177/2396987318778971 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 220-226 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Ulrike Waje-Andreassen ◽

Darius G Nabavi ◽

Stefan T Engelter ◽

Diederik WJ Dippel ◽

Damian Jenkinson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Stroke Unit ◽

Stroke Care ◽

Evidence Base ◽

Final Decision ◽

Major Step ◽

High Quality ◽

Stroke Units ◽

Stroke Treatment ◽

Research Activities ◽

Stroke Centre

To improve quality and to overcome the wide discrepancies in stroke care both within- and between European countries, the European Stroke Organisation Executive Committee initiated in 2007 activities to establish certification processes for stroke units and stroke centres. The rapidly expanding evidence base in stroke care provided the mandate for the European Stroke Organisation Stroke Unit-Committee to develop certification procedures for stroke units and stroke centres with the goals of setting standards for stroke treatment in Europe, improving quality and minimising variation. The purpose of this article is to present the certification criteria and the auditing process for stroke units and stroke centres that aim to standardise and harmonise care for stroke patients, and hence become members of the European Stroke Organisation Stroke Unit and Stroke Centre network. Standardised application forms and guidelines for national and international auditors have been developed and updated by members of the European Stroke Organisation Stroke Unit-Committee. Key features are availability of trained personnel, diagnostic equipment, acute treatment and collaboration with other stroke-caregivers. After submission, the application is reviewed by one national and two international auditors. Based on their reports, the Stroke Unit-Committee will make a final decision. Validating on-site visits for a subset of stroke units and stroke centres are planned. We herein describe a novel, European Stroke Organisation-based online certification process of stroke units and stroke centres. This is a major step forward towards high-quality stroke care across Europe. The additional value by connecting high-quality European Stroke Organisation Stroke Unit and Stroke Centre is facilitation of future collaboration and research activities, enabling building and maintenance of a high-quality stroke care network in Europe.

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HUBUNGAN ANTARA RIWAYAT PENYAKIT JANTUNG DENGAN TINGKAT KEPARAHAN STROKE ISKEMIK AKUT PERTAMA KALI

Majalah Kedokteran Neurosains Perhimpunan Dokter Spesialis Saraf Indonesia ◽

10.52386/neurona.v37i1.101 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ignatius Ivan ◽

Budi Riyanto Wreksoatmodjo ◽

Octavianus Darmawan

Keyword(s):

Myocardial Infarction ◽

Heart Failure ◽

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Ischemic Stroke ◽

National Institutes Of Health ◽

Stroke Severity ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Severe Stroke ◽

History Of

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE AND SEVERITY OF ACUTE FIRST-EVER ISCHEMIC STROKEABSTRACTIntroduction: History of heart disease such as atrial fibrillation, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, heart failure has a role on ischemic stroke severity.Aim: This research aims to find the association between history of heart disease and stroke severity using NIHSS score on acute ischemic stroke patients in Atma Jaya hospital during 2014-2018.Method: This research used cross-sectional method with two-sided fisher’s exact test. With total sampling, samples retrieved from secondary sources in Atma Jaya hospital during 2014-2018 resulting 236 subjects. Stroke severity measured by NIHSS score during admission, categorized with severe stroke (15-42) and non-severe stroke (0-14).Result: There is a significant association between history of AF (p=0.046) on first-ever ischemic stroke severity. Acute first-ever ischemic stroke patients who are >18 years old with history of AF has a tendency of 5,2 times to have severe stroke compared with patients without AF. Other history of heart disease has no significant association towards stroke severity.Discussion: In accordance with previous research, our findings suggest a significant association between history of atrial fibrillation and acute first-ever ischemic stroke severity in which there is a tendency of more severe stroke compared wth patients without AF. Unlike previous findings, this research shows no significant association between history of heart failure and stroke severity due to limited data characteristic of ejection fraction preventing us to include patient with ejection fraction below 30%. This limitation may also allow history of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction to be insignificant.Keywords: Atrial fibrillation, heart failure, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, National Institutes of Health Stroke ScaleABSTRAKPendahuluan: Riwayat penyakit jantung seperti atrial fibrilasi, angina pektoris, infark miokardium, gagal jantung memiliki peran terhadap keparahan stroke iskemik.Tujuan: Mengetahui hubungan riwayat penyakit jantung dengan tingkat keparahan stroke berdasarkan skor NIHSS pada pasien stroke iskemik akut di RS Atma Jaya pada tahun 2014-2018.Metode: Penelitian potong lintang terhadap data sekunder pasien stroke iskemik pertama kali yang dirawat di RS Atma Jaya pada tahun 2014-2018. Keparahan stroke diukur berdasarkan National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) masuk dengan kategori severe stroke (skor 15-42) dan non-severe stroke (0-14). Dilakukan uji Fisher dua sisi untuk menilai hubungan.Hasil: Terdapat 236 subjek dengan mayoritas hubungan riwayat AF (p=0,046) terhadap tingkat keparahan stroke. Pasien berumur >18 tahun yang mengalami stroke iskemik akut pertama kali dengan riwayat AF akan berpeluang 5,2 kali lebih tinggi untuk mengalami severe stroke dibandingkan jika tanpa riwayat AF. Riwayat penyakit jantung lain tidak memiliki hubungan signifikan terhadap tingkat keparahan stroke.Diskusi: Terdapat hubungan yang signifikan antara riwayat AF terhadap tingkat keparahan stroke, terutama pada subjek dengan severe stroke jika dibandingkan pasien tanpa riwayat AF. Tidak ditemukan hubungan signifikan antara penyakit jantung yang lain dikarenakan keterbatasan data penelitian.Kata kunci: Atrial fibrilasi, gagal jantung, infark miokardium, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, stroke iskemik

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Micro-albuminuria in non-diabetic acute ischaemic stroke: prevalence and its co-relation with stroke severity

International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences ◽

10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20170647 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 982 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sumeet Singh ◽

Harpreet Singh ◽

Tarsem Pal Singh

Keyword(s):

Ischaemic Stroke ◽

Acute Ischaemic Stroke ◽

Urinary Albumin ◽

P Value ◽

Stroke Severity ◽

Stroke Patients ◽

Urine Albumin Excretion ◽

Albumin Excretion ◽

Urine Albumin ◽

History Of

Background: Microalbuminuria is not only a predictor of subsequent kidney disease, but also an indicator of generalised endothelial injury and a manifestation of endothelial dysfunction. The present study is aimed to determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria among non–diabetic ischaemic stroke patients and find its correlation with ischaemic stroke which eventually will aid us in coming up with potent strategies to provide better prevention and cure.Methods: The present study was conducted in Department of Medicine in collaboration with Department of Biochemistry and Department of Radiology, Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, Punjab, India after taking approval from institutional thesis and ethical committee. The study included 60 patients (30 Cases + 30 Controls) in age group 20-80 years diagnosed as stroke and haemorrhage ruled out by NCCT Brain/MRI Brain at admission. Cases were patients with history of hypertension with acute ischaemic stroke. Controls were age and sex matched patients with no history of hypertension with acute ischaemic stroke. The microalbuminuria was assayed by immunoturbimetry. The stroke severity was assessed by NIH Stroke Severity scale. P value less than 0.05 was considered the level of significance.Results: The overall prevalence of microalbuminuria in acute ischaemic stroke patients was 41.67%. When comparing NIH SS (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale) score with the levels of albumin in urine, there was a significant positive correlation with urinary albumin levels and stroke severity in the patients having urinary albumin levels in microalbuminuria range both in Case group and Control group with P value less than 0.05.Conclusions: Urine albumin excretion had a positive correlation with the NIH SS Score of the patient in acute ischemic stroke. Those with a higher NIH SS Score had a higher rate of urine albumin excretion and vice versa. Therefore, measurement of microalbuminuria may help to assess those who are at increased risk of severe stroke and may require a more aggressive management.

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