Planning of stroke care and urgent prehospital care across Europe : Results of the ESO/ESMINT/EAN/SAFE Survey

Funding Information: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: SA is co-PI of the RACECAT trial. VC received grants and speaker fees from BI. UF is consultant for Stryker, Medtronic and CSL Behring; Research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, Swiss Heart Foundation and Medtronic. DAS, TG, FF, AK, IZ, MG and VF have no disclosures. Funding Information: The authors are grateful to all ?ESO/ESMINT/EAN/SAFE Survey on Stroke Care in Europe? collaborators. We are also in debt to Bo Norrving, Didier Leys, Kennedy Lees and Turgut Tatlisumak for their useful comments regarding the questionnaire, data collection methodology and policy implications of this paper. Publisher Copyright: © European Stroke Organisation 2019.Introduction: Adequate planning and implementation of stroke systems of care is key to guarantee a rapid healthcare response and delivery of specific reperfusion therapies among candidates. We assessed the availability of stroke care plans in Europe, and evaluated their impact on rates of reperfusion therapies for stroke. Patients: Based on the European Stroke Organisation (ESO), the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT), the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), and the Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE) survey, we analysed specific prespecified items in the questionnaire regarding availability and adequacy of stroke care plans, organised prehospital care and their potential impact on rates of delivery of reperfusion therapies for stroke at the country level. Results: Of 44 participating European countries, 37 have stroke care plans that operate at national and/or regional levels. Most stroke care plans take responsibility for the organisation/implementation of stroke systems of care (86%), quality of care assessment (77%), and act as a liaison between emergency medical systems and stroke physicians (79%). As for stroke systems of care, the focus is mainly on prehospital and in-hospital acute stroke care (Code Stroke systems available in 37/44 countries). Preferred urgent transport is via non-medicalised ambulances (70%). Presence of stroke care plans, stroke registry data, transport of urgent stroke patients via non-medicalised ambulances, and drip-and-ship routing of acute patients showed higher reperfusion treatment rates. Discussion: Availability of stroke care plans, still absent in some European countries, as well as some features of the stroke systems of care are associated with higher reperfusion treatment rates. Conclusion: Stroke is not yet a priority everywhere in Europe, which is a barrier to the spread of reperfusion therapies for stroke.publishersversionPeer reviewe

Trombòlisi intravenosa en l'ictus isquèmic: evolució 2005-2012

Trombòlisi intravenosa; Ictus; TractamentTrombolisis intravenosa; TratamientoIntravenous thrombolysis; TreatmentL'objectiu de l'atles és identificar i descriure la variabilitat de la trombòlisi intravenosa en l'ictus isquèmic ja que la trombòlisi intravenosa és l'única teràpia que disposa d'evidència científica en el tractament del pacient amb ictus isquèmic en fase aguda

Évolution du suivi des recommandations en soins infirmières, en trois éditions d’audit de l’AVC en Catalogne

Contexte : Trois audits de l’AVC ont été menés en Catalogne en 2005, 2007 et 2010. Ces audits évaluent un nombre limité des recommandations à l’aide d’indicateurs. Le but de l’étude est de décrire le suivi des recommandations spécifiques aux soins infirmiers en 2010, d’analyser l’évolution du suivi en 2005, 2007 et 2010 et d’identifier des facteurs reliés à ce suivi. Méthode : Il s’agit d’une étude descriptive/corrélationnelle. Six indicateurs spécifiques aux soins infirmiers ont été mesurés. Les données ont été collectées à partir des dossiers médicaux des patients admis dans 46 hôpitaux publics. L’évolution du suivi a été analysée à l’aide des chi-carrés et des modèles de régression ont été utilisés afin d’identifier les facteurs reliés à ce suivi. Résultats : Au total 2190 cas ont été évalués. Trois des six indicateurs évalués montrent un suivi >70% : mobilisation précoce (78,6%), réalisation d’un ECG basal (97%) et réalisation d’une glycémie basale (97,7%). Le dépistage de la dysphagie améliore au cours des trois audits (p<0,001). L’évaluation de l’humeur, s’est détériorée par rapport à 2007 (p=0,002). Les analyses ajustées pour les caractéristiques et la gravidité des patients montrent un majeur suivi du dépistage de la dysphagie parmi les cas admis en neurologie (OR : 5,28, IC 95%, 1,35 à 20,6) et/ou dans les centres de plus de 300 admissions/année par AVC (OR : 4,31, IC 95%, 1,04 à 17,8) ainsi que de l’éducation au patient/famille quand le patient est admis en fin de semaine (OR : 1,62 IC 95%, 1,03 à 2,54). Discussion : L’évolution dans le suivi des recommandations montre que la qualité des soins infirmières aux personnes ayant subi un AVC s’améliore progressivement en Catalogne. Toutefois, une amélioration de certaines recommandations est possible. Ainsi, il s’avère nécessaire de renforcer et promouvoir des interventions plus ciblées et spécifiques

Access to and delivery of acute ischaemic stroke treatments: A survey of national scientific societies and stroke experts in 44 European countries

Acute stroke treatment; Health care resources; Intravenous thrombolysisTractament de l'ictus agut; Recursos sanitaris; Trombòlisi intravenosaTratamiento del ictus agudo; Recursos sanitarios; Trombólisis intravenosaINTRODUCTION: Acute stroke unit care, intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment significantly improve the outcome for patients with ischaemic stroke, but data on access and delivery throughout Europe are lacking. We assessed best available data on access and delivery of acute stroke unit care, intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment throughout Europe. METHODS: A survey, drafted by stroke professionals (ESO, ESMINT, EAN) and a patient organisation (SAFE), was sent to national stroke societies and experts in 51 European countries (World Health Organization definition) requesting experts to provide national data on stroke unit, intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular treatment rates. We compared both pooled and individual national data per one million inhabitants and per 1000 annual incident ischaemic strokes with highest country rates. Population estimates were based on United Nations data, stroke incidences on the Global Burden of Disease Report. RESULTS: We obtained data from 44 European countries. The estimated mean number of stroke units was 2.9 per million inhabitants (95% CI 2.3-3.6) and 1.5 per 1000 annual incident strokes (95% CI 1.1-1.9), highest country rates were 9.2 and 5.8. Intravenous thrombolysis was provided in 42/44 countries. The estimated mean annual number of intravenous thrombolysis was 142.0 per million inhabitants (95% CI 107.4-176.7) and 72.7 per 1000 annual incident strokes (95% CI 54.2-91.2), highest country rates were 412.2 and 205.5. Endovascular treatment was provided in 40/44 countries. The estimated mean annual number of endovascular treatments was 37.1 per million inhabitants (95% CI 26.7-47.5) and 19.3 per 1000 annual incident strokes (95% CI 13.5-25.1), highest country rates were 111.5 and 55.9. Overall, 7.3% of incident ischaemic stroke patients received intravenous thrombolysis (95% CI 5.4-9.1) and 1.9% received endovascular treatment (95% CI 1.3-2.5), highest country rates were 20.6% and 5.6%. CONCLUSION: We observed major inequalities in acute stroke treatment between and within 44 European countries. Our data will assist decision makers implementing tailored stroke care programmes for reducing stroke-related morbidity and mortality in Europe

Thrombectomy within 8 hours after symptom onset in ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of thrombectomy for the treatment of stroke in a trial embedded within a population-based stroke reperfusion registry. METHODS: During a 2-year period at four centers in Catalonia, Spain, we randomly assigned 206 patients who could be treated within 8 hours after the onset of symptoms of acute ischemic stroke to receive either medical therapy (including intravenous alteplase when eligible) and endovascular therapy with the Solitaire stent retriever (thrombectomy group) or medical therapy alone (control group). All patients had confirmed proximal anterior circulation occlusion and the absence of a large infarct on neuroimaging. In all study patients, the use of alteplase either did not achieve revascularization or was contraindicated. The primary outcome was the severity of global disability at 90 days, as measured on the modified Rankin scale (ranging from 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]). Although the maximum planned sample size was 690, enrollment was halted early because of loss of equipoise after positive results for thrombectomy were reported from other similar trials. RESULTS Thrombectomy reduced the severity of disability over the range of the modified Rankin scale (adjusted odds ratio for improvement of 1 point, 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05 to 2.8) and led to higher rates of functional independence (a score of 0 to 2) at 90 days (43.7% vs. 28.2%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.1 to 4.0). At 90 days, the rates of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage were 1.9% in both the thrombectomy group and the control group (P = 1.00), and rates of death were 18.4% and 15.5%, respectively (P = 0.60). Registry data indicated that only eight patients who met the eligibility criteria were treated outside the trial at participating hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with anterior circulation stroke who could be treated within 8 hours after symptom onset, stent retriever thrombectomy reduced the severity of post-stroke disability and increased the rate of functional independence