Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association
-
J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis · Jan 2020
Comparative StudyIs Door-to-Needle Time Reduced for Emergency Medical Services Transported Stroke Patients Routed Directly to the Computed Tomography Scanner on Emergency Department Arrival?
A nationally recommended practice to accelerate thrombolytic therapy for acute ischemic stroke is to route emergency medical services (EMS)-transported stroke patients directly to the computed tomography (CT) scanner on arrival. We evaluated door-to-needle time with direct-to-CT routing versus emergency department (ED)-bed first routing. ⋯ In this regional stroke system, hospitals with protocols for routing EMS-transported stroke patients directly to CT did not have reduced door-to-needle compared to hospitals without such protocols.
-
J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis · Jan 2020
What Proportion of Patients Admitted with Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack May Be Suitable for Newer Cholesterol-Lowering Treatment?
Protein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors effectively clear low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non-HDL-C). We evaluated stroke admissions potentially eligible for more intensive cholesterol treatment. ⋯ Up to 13% of unselected acute ischemic stroke or TIA patients admitted to a hyper-acute stroke unit were potentially suitable for more intensive cholesterol treatment. Our data may act as a useful guide for sample size selection in future stroke trials testing PCSK9 inhibitors.