Emergency Medical Services Prenotification is Associated with Reduced Odds of In-Hospital Mortality in Stroke Patients

Door-to-puncture time in ischemic stroke with large vessel occlusion in France: Patient and hospital factors

INTRODUCTION

The efficacy of endovascular therapy (EVT) in reducing disability is strongly time-dependent. Door to groin puncture (DTP) time has been reported to be a reliable parameter to assess the delay between admission and treatment initiation and can be shortened via faster, more optimized workflow. We aimed to assess the DTP time in France and have analyzed potentially associated factors at both patient and hospital levels.

METHODS

From January 2020 to December 2022, data were collected in the prospective, multi-centered, ongoing Endovascular Treatment in Ischemic Stroke (ETIS) registry. All patients directly admitted to comprehensive stroke centers with large vessel occlusion treated by EVT were included in the analysis and their DTP times were analyzed. We investigated hospital-related factors (prenotification, patient's hospital arrival location, type of imaging, number of available angiosuites, type of anesthesia) and patient-related factors, which could affect DTP time.

RESULTS

Among 3847 patients from 28 centers [mean age: 71.2; median NIHSS: 16 (10-20)], the median DTP time was 105minutes (IQR: 84 to 137). Pre-stroke mRS>1, admission during off-hours and admission to centers equipped with only one dedicated angiosuite were associated with a longer DTP time. Centers not equipped with an emergency department had a significantly shorter DTP time.

CONCLUSION

The median DTP time in France is 105min. Further efforts, such as increasing the number of available angiosuites in CSCs, and implementing direct imaging paradigms should be applied to optimize workflows and to reduce DTP time, a major marker of the efficacy of comprehensive stroke centers.

Associations Between Prenotification and Time to Management in Acute Stroke Patients Transported by Emergency Medical Services

BACKGROUND

Acute stroke is a major health burden and prompt management at the emergency department (ED) is crucial for favorable outcomes.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the associations between prehospital notification to the ED and time to management in acute ischemic stroke patients.

METHODS

Patients with acute ischemic stroke who visited a thrombolysis-available ED through an emergency medical service (EMS) from July 2020 to December 2021 were included. The main exposure was prenotification by EMS personnel. The primary outcome was the time to management in acute stroke care metrics in ED-stroke critical pathway (CP) activation, brain radiographic evaluation, intravenous thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy, and stroke unit admission. Multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted.

RESULTS

A total of 1107 acute ischemic stroke patients were included. The time to management was shorter in the prenotification group than in the control group; CP activation was 10 vs. 13.5 min, brain radiographic evaluation was 27 vs. 35 min, intravenous thrombolysis was 50.5 vs. 56.5 min, mechanical thrombectomy was 126.5 vs. 151.0 min, and stroke unit admission was 270.5 vs. 295.5 min. The prenotification group had a greater probability of a shorter time to management: Estimate (95% confidence intervals) was -15.7 min (-22.7 to -8.8) for CP activation, -13.8 min (-19.9 to -7.6) for brain radiographic evaluation, -20.9 min (-32.6 to -9.2) for intravenous thrombolysis, -81.6 min (-149.0 to -14.2) for mechanical thrombectomy, and -20.8 (-66.7 to -25.1) for stroke unit admission.

CONCLUSION

In acute ischemic stroke patients, prehospital prenotification was found to be associated with a shorter time to management.

Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Disparities in the Management and Outcomes of Critically Ill Adults with Acute Stroke

Racial, ethnicity and sex disparities are pervasive in the evaluation and acute care of ischemic stroke patients. Administration of intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy are the most critical steps in ischemic stroke treatment but compared to White patients, ischemic stroke patients from minority racial and ethnic groups are less likely to receive these potentially life-saving interventions. Sex and racial disparities in intracerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage treatment have not been well studied.

Prevalence and Determinants of Prehospital Impression of Stroke in Ischemic Stroke Patients

BACKGROUND

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) clinicians are front-line in evaluating patients with stroke in the community. Their ability to correctly identify stroke influences downstream management decisions. We sought to use a large national database of prehospital clinical data to determine risk factors associated with missed EMS stroke identification.

METHODS

Retrospective study examining EMS evaluation of adults with Emergency Department (ED) stroke diagnosis. We leveraged the ESO Data Collaborative research dataset containing EHR data from 2019-2022 that has a subset of encounters with linked hospital diagnostic codes. Our primary outcome was the presence of an EMS diagnosis of stroke. We evaluated the association between demographic and clinical variables with EMS stroke identification using Pearson χ2 test for demographic variables and multivariable GLM for clinical variables with adjustment for demographic variables.

RESULTS

We identified 34,504 EMS encounters for patients with ED stroke diagnosis. Of these, 11,077 (32.1%) strokes had missed EMS stroke identification and instead had an EMS impression of "Generalized Weakness" (25.9%), "Altered Level of Consciousness" (24.9%), and "Dizziness" (7.2%). Patients more likely to have missed prehospital stroke identification were of Black race (p=0.0001) and Hispanic ethnicity (p=0.0001). Clinical variables associated with higher risk of missed EMS stroke identification were suspected alcohol or drug use (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.37-1.59), low GCS (RR 1.17, 95% CI 1.10-1.24), tachycardia (RR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01-1.09), and hypotension (RR 1.47, 95% CI 1.34-1.61).

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately 1-in-3 patients transported by EMS did not have their stroke identified in the prehospital setting. Factors associated with lower odds of missed EMS stroke identification provide a starting point for future performance improvement initiatives.

2024 AHA/ASA Performance and Quality Measures for Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage: A Report From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association released a revised spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage guideline in 2022. A working group of stroke experts reviewed this guideline and identified a subset of recommendations that were deemed suitable for creating performance measures. These 15 performance measures encompass a wide spectrum of intracerebral hemorrhage patient care, from prehospital to posthospital settings, highlighting the importance of timely interventions. The measures also include 5 quality measures and address potential challenges in data collection, with the aim of future improvements.

Emergency Medical Services Compliance With Prehospital Stroke Quality Metrics Is Associated With Faster Stroke Evaluation and Treatment

BACKGROUND

Emergency medical services (EMS) is an important link in the stroke chain of recovery. Various prehospital quality metrics have been proposed for prehospital stroke care, but their individual impact is uncertain. We sought to measure associations between EMS quality metrics and downstream stroke care.

METHODS

This is a retrospective analysis of a cohort of EMS-transported stroke patients assembled through a linkage between Michigan's EMS and stroke registries. We used multivariable regression to quantify the independent associations between EMS quality metric compliance (dispatch within 90 seconds of 911 call, prehospital stroke screen documentation [Prehospital stroke scale], glucose check, last known well time, maintenance of scene times ≤15 minutes, hospital prenotification, and intravenous line placement) and shorter door-to-CT times (door-to-CT ≤25), accounting for EMS recognition, age, sex, race, stroke subtype, severity, and duration of symptoms. We then developed a simple EMS quality score based on metrics associated with early CT and examined its associations with hospital stroke evaluation times, treatment, and patient outcomes.

RESULTS

Five thousand seven hundred seven EMS-transported stroke cases were linked to prehospital records from January 2018 through June 2019. In multivariable analysis, prehospital stroke scale documentation (adjusted odds ratio, 1.4 [1.2-1.6]), glucose check (1.3 [1.1-1.6]), on-scene time ≤15 minutes (1.6 [1.4-1.9]), hospital prenotification ([2.0 [1.4-2.9]), and intravenous line placement (1.8 [1.5-2.1]) were independently associated with a door-to-CT ≤25 minutes. A 5-point quality score (1 point for each element) was therefore developed. In multivariable analysis, a 1-point higher EMS quality score was associated with a shorter time from EMS contact to CT (-9.2 [-10.6 to -7.8] minutes; P<0.001) and thrombolysis (-4.3 [-6.4 to -2.2] minutes; P<0.001), and higher odds of discharge to home (adjusted odds ratio, 1.1 [1.0-1.2]; P=0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

Five EMS actions recommended by national guidelines were associated with rapid CT imaging. A simple quality score derived from these measures was also associated with faster stroke evaluation, greater odds of reperfusion treatment, and discharge to home.

Early identification and characterisation of stroke to support prehospital decision-making using artificial intelligence: a scoping review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Stroke is a time-critical condition and one of the leading causes of mortality and disability worldwide. To decrease mortality and improve patient outcome by improving access to optimal treatment, there is an emerging need to improve the accuracy of the methods used to identify and characterise stroke in prehospital settings and emergency departments (EDs). This might be accomplished by developing computerised decision support systems (CDSSs) that are based on artificial intelligence (AI) and potential new data sources such as vital signs, biomarkers and image and video analysis. This scoping review aims to summarise literature on existing methods for early characterisation of stroke by using AI.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The review will be performed with respect to the Arksey and O'Malley's model. Peer-reviewed articles about AI-based CDSSs for the characterisation of stroke or new potential data sources for stroke CDSSs, published between January 1995 and April 2023 and written in English, will be included. Studies reporting methods that depend on mobile CT scanning or with no focus on prehospital or ED care will be excluded. Screening will be done in two steps: title and abstract screening followed by full-text screening. Two reviewers will perform the screening process independently, and a third reviewer will be involved in case of disagreement. Final decision will be made based on majority vote. Results will be reported using a descriptive summary and thematic analysis.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The methodology used in the protocol is based on information publicly available and does not need ethical approval. The results from the review will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The findings will be shared at relevant national and international conferences and meetings in the field of digital health and neurology.

Prehospital Stroke Care Part 2: On-Scene Evaluation and Management by Emergency Medical Services Practitioners

The prehospital phase is a critical component of delivering high-quality acute stroke care. This topical review discusses the current state of prehospital acute stroke screening and transport, as well as new and emerging advances in prehospital diagnosis and treatment of acute stroke. Topics include prehospital stroke screening, stroke severity screening, emerging technologies to aid in the identification and diagnosis of acute stroke in the prehospital setting, prenotification of receiving emergency departments, decision support for destination determination, and the capabilities and opportunities for prehospital stroke treatment in mobile stroke units. Further evidence-based guideline development and implementation of new technologies are critical for ongoing improvements in prehospital stroke care.

On-scene time delays for epileptic seizures in emergencies during a social pandemic: A population-based study

OBJECTIVES

The on-scene time of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), including time for hospital selection, is critical for people in an emergency. However, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) led to longer delays in providing immediate care for individuals with non-COVID-19-related emergencies, such as epileptic seizures. This study aimed to examine factors associated with on-scene time delays for people with epilepsy (PWE) with seizures needing immediate amelioration.

MATERIALS & METHODS

We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study for PWE transported by EMS between 2016 and 2021. We used data from the Hiroshima City Fire Service Bureau database, divided into three study periods: "Pre period", the period before the COVID pandemic (2016-2019); "Early period", the early period of the COVID pandemic (2020); and "Middle period", the middle period of the COVID pandemic (2021). We performed linear regression modeling to identify factors associated with changes in EMS on-scene time for PWE during each period. In addition, we estimated the rate of total EMS call volume required to maintain the same on-scene time for PWE transported by EMS during the pandemic expansion.

RESULTS

Among 2,205 PWE transported by EMS, significant differences in mean age and prevalence of impaired consciousness were found between pandemic periods. Total EMS call volume per month for all causes during the same month <5,000 (-0.55 min, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.02 - -0.08, p = 0.022) and transport during the Early period (-1.88 min, 95%CI -2.75 - -1.00, p < 0.001) decreased on-scene time, whereas transport during the Middle period (1.58 min, 95%CI 0.70 - 2.46, p < 0.001) increased on-scene time for PWE transported by EMS. The rate of total EMS call volume was estimated as 0.81 (95%CI -0.04 - 1.07) during the expansion phase of the pandemic to maintain the same degree of on-scene time for PWE transported by EMS before the pandemic.

CONCLUSIONS

On-scene time delays on PWE in critical care settings were observed during the Middle period. When the pandemic expanded, the EMS system required resource allocation to maintain EMS for time-sensitive illnesses such as epileptic seizures. Timely system changes are critical to meet dramatic social changes.

Implementation of the Helsinki Model at West Tallinn Central Hospital

Ischemic stroke is defined as neurological deficit caused by brain infarction. The intravenous tissue plasminogen activator, alteplase, is an effective treatment. However, efficacy of this method is time dependent. An important step in improving outcome and increasing the number of patients receiving alteplase is the shortening of waiting times at the hospital, the so-called door-to-needle time (DNT). The comprehensive Helsinki model was proposed in 2012, which enabled the shortening of the DNT to less than 20 min. Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to analyze the transferability of the suggested model to the West Tallinn Central Hospital (WTCH). Materials and Methods: Since the first thrombolysis in 2005, all patients are registered in the WTCH thrombolysis registry. Several steps following the Helsinki model have been implemented over the years. Results: The results demonstrate that the number and also the percent of thrombolysed stroke patients increased during the years, from a few thrombolysis annually, to 260 in 2021. The mean DNT dropped significantly to 33 min after the implementation of several steps, from the emergency medical services (EMS) prenotification with a phone call to the neurologists, to the setting-up of a thrombolysis team based in the stroke unit. Also, the immediate start of treatment using a computed tomography table was introduced. Conclusions: In conclusion, several implemented steps enabled the shortening of the DNT from 30 to 25.2 min. Short DNTs were achieved and maintained only with EMS prenotification.