Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Received March 6, 2010; final revision received March 12, 2010; accepted March 17, 2010.
From the Department of Neurology (J.L.S.), University of California, Los Angeles, Calif; Department of Clinical Neurosciences (E.E.S.), Hotchkiss
Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada; Division of Cardiology (G.C.F.), University of California, Los Angeles, Calif; Department of
Epidemiology (M.J.R.), Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich; Duke Clinical Research Center (X.Z., D.M.O.), Durham, NC; and Department
of Neurology (L.H.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.
Correspondence to Jeffrey L. Saver, MD, UCLA Stroke Center, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095. E-mail jsaver@ucla.edu
2010 American Heart Association, Inc.
Stroke is available at http://stroke.ahajournals.org
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.583815
1431
Downloaded from http://stroke.ahajournals.org/
by guest on March 19, 2016
1432
Stroke
July 2010
Methods
The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association
launched the GWTG-Stroke initiative focused on the redesign of
hospital systems of care to improve the quality of care of patients
with stroke and transient ischemic attack.10,11 GWTG uses a Webbased patient management tool (Outcome Sciences, Inc, Cambridge,
Mass) to collect clinical data on consecutively admitted patients,
provide decision support, and enable real-time online reporting
features. After an initial pilot phase conducted in 8 states, the
GWTG-Stroke program was made available in April 2003 to any
hospital in the United States.12 Data from hospitals that joined the
program any time between April 2003 and December 2007 were
included in this analysis. Each participating hospital received either
human research approval to enroll cases without individual patient
consent under the common rule or a waiver of authorization and
exemption from subsequent review by their institutional review
board. Outcome Sciences, Inc, serves as the data collection and
coordination center for GWTG. The Duke Clinical Research Institute
serves as the data analysis center and has an agreement to analyze the
aggregate deidentified data for research purposes.
DTN time, door-to-imaging time, and outcome destination at discharge. A 2 test for nominal data and Kruskal-Wallis tests for
ordinal and continuous data were used as tests for unadjusted
statistical associations. Statistical significance was defined as
P0.01. Generalized estimating equations logistic-regression models, accounting for within-hospital clustering, were generated to
identify independent predictors of onset-to-door (OTD) time 60
minutes and of DTN time 60 minutes. General details of the
candidate patient and hospital variables and the modeling process
have been previously described.10 Statistical significance was defined as P0.01. All statistical analyses were performed with SAS
version 9.1 software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC).
Results
During the 4.75-year time period, at 905 hospital sites, data
for 431 170 ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack
patients were entered into the GWTG-Stroke database. The
main analyses of this study were performed for the 106 924
patients in this cohort with ischemic stroke, a documented last
known well time (LKWT), and presentation directly to the
ED by ambulance or private vehicle. Among excluded
patients were 74 671 who did not present directly to the ED
(including in-hospital stroke, elective admission directly to
the hospital, or secondary transfer from another hospital);
103 351 ED-arriving patients with final diagnoses of transient
ischemic attack; and 146 224 direct ED-arriving ischemic
stroke patients for whom the LKWT was not documented.
Patient- and hospital-level characteristics among patients
with and without a documented LKWT are shown in Table 1.
Large differences were noted in arrival by emergency medical services and use of TPA (both higher in documented
LKWT patients) and modest differences in other features,
including stroke severity (higher in documented LKWT
patients) and race (lower frequency of blacks in documented
LKWT patients).
Among the direct ED-arriving ischemic stroke patients
with a documented LKWT, OTD time was 60 minutes or less
in 30 220 (28.3%), 61 to 180 minutes in 33 858 (31.7%), and
180 minutes in 42 846 (40.1%). Among the subgroup
who arrived within 60 minutes, mean OTD time was 39.9
minutes (SD, 14.8). In the most recent study year, 2007,
among the 809 facilities contributing data, GWTG-Stroke
hospitals cared for 10 497 golden hourarriving ischemic
stroke patients.
Table 2 shows patient- and hospital-level characteristics of
3 ischemic stroke time-of-arrival cohorts. All groups were
similar in age and sex. In terms of race-ethnicity, patients
arriving in 1 hour and in 1 to 3 hours, compared with those
arriving 3 hours, were slightly more often non-Hispanic
whites and less often black or Asian. Among those patients in
whom stroke severity was documented (n51 738), severity
was greatest among golden hourarriving patients (median
National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale [NIHSS]score 8),
intermediate among 1- to 3-hourarriving patients (NIHSS
score 6), and least among those arriving 3 hours (NIHSS
score 4). A similar graded difference was observed in the
frequency of arrival at the hospital by ambulance, which
occurred in 79.0% of patients arriving in 1 hour or less, in
72.2% of 1- to 3-hourarriving patients, and in 55.0% of
3-hourarriving patients. Considering hospital characteris-
Saver et al
Table 1. Patient- and Hospital-Level Characteristics of
Ischemic Stroke Patients With and Without Documented LKWTs
LKWT
Documented
LKWT Not
Documented
106 924
146 224
P Value
Patient-level characteristics
Age, y
74 (14.35)
75 (14.39)
0.0001
51.5%
54.6%
0.0001
White, non-Hispanic
75.4%
72.1%
0.0001
Black
13.4%
16.7%
Asian
2.3%
2.3%
67.2%
54.7%
Female
Race-ethnicity
6 (213)
4 (19)
0.0001
0.0001
History of atrial
fibrillation/flutter
20.2%
16.8%
0.0001
Prior stroke/TIA
30.5%
31.5%
0.0001
28.0%
27.4%
0.0005
4.3%
4.4%
0.4445
Carotid stenosis
4.8%
5.3%
0.0001
Diabetes mellitus
27.5%
31.5%
0.0001
History of hypertension
73.6%
74.7%
0.0001
Smoker
17.1%
17.2%
0.4879
History of dyslipidemia
36.2%
34.2%
0.0001
IV TPA treatment
11.7%
0.5%
0.0001
301
31.2%
30.1%
0.0001
101300
57.5%
57.8%
Hospital-level characteristics
Ischemic stroke/TIA
admissions/y
0100
Hospital size (No. of beds)
11.3%
375
12.2%
367
0.0001
38.5%
39.9%
0.0001
West
19.3%
16.7%
0.0001
South
35.3%
38.1%
Midwest
19.7%
19.4%
Northeast
25.7%
25.9%
TIA indicates transient ischemic attack. Reasons for LKWT not known
include symptom onset time not valid or not documented, hospital arrival time
not valid or not documented, symptom onset documented as after hospital
arrival time, or no documentation present.
*NIHSS values were recorded in 148 681 patients, 58.71% of the cohort.
1433
1434
Stroke
July 2010
Table 2. Patient- and Hospital-Level Characteristics of Ischemic Stroke Patients Arriving in Different
Time Windows
60 Minutes
n
61180 Minutes
180 Minutes
P Value
30 220
33 858
42 846
71.3 (14.4)
72.0 (14.3)
70.6 (14.2)
50.8%
52.2%
51.5%
0.002
White, non-Hispanic
77.3%
77.5%
72.5%
0.0001
Black
11.8%
11.9%
15.8%
Asian
2.0%
2.1%
2.7%
79.0%
72.2%
55.0.%
8 (316)
6 (212)
4 (29)
0.0001
0.0001
Patient-level characteristics
Age
Female
0.0001
Race-ethnicity
0.0001
24.3%
21.7%
16.2%
Prior stroke/TIA
30.0%
32.0%
29.6%
0.0001
29.4%
28.9%
26.3%
0.0001
Carotid stenosis
4.2%
4.4%
4.4%
0.57
4.7%
5.0%
4.8%
0.32
Diabetes mellitus
23.4%
27.0%
30.8%
0.0001
History of hypertension
71.9%
73.7%
74.9%
0.0001
Smoker
84.4%
84.6%
80.6%
0.0001
History of dyslipidemia
35.1%
36.5%
36.8%
0.0001
0.0001
Hospital-level characteristics
Ischemic stroke/TIA admissions/y
301
29.5%
32.3%
31.6%
101300
58.3%
56.7%
57.6%
0100
12.2%
11.0%
10.8%
358
380
380
0.0001
41.0%
38.0%
37.2%
0.0001
West
20.4%
18.4%
19.2%
0.0001
South
34.2%
36.3%
35.5%
Midwest
19.3%
19.1%
20.4%
Northeast
26.1%
26.2%
24.9%
nonacademic status, months of participation in the GWTGStroke program, and geographic region.
Results of multivariate modeling identifying patient- and
hospital-level factors independently associated with DTN
times of 60 minutes among golden hourarriving patients
are shown in Table 6. Greater stroke severity increased the
odds of the start of lytic treatment within 1 hour of arrival,
whereas older age, female sex, and history of diabetes or prior
stroke/transient ischemic attack decreased the odds.
Discussion
There have been several important national and multicenter
registry studies of early-arriving stroke patients,59 but this
study is the largest and the first to characterize in detail
ischemic stroke patients who arrive at hospital within the first
Saver et al
Table 3. Patient- and Hospital-Level Characteristics
Independently Associated With ED Arrival Within the First 60
Minutes of Stroke Onset
OR (95% CI)
P Value
Characteristic
0.001
1.78 (1.701.87)
0.001
1.21 (1.161.26)
0.001
1.16 (1.101.22)
0.001
1.08 (1.031.12)
0.001
Prior stroke/TIA
0.96 (0.921.00)
0.049
History of hypertension
0.95 (0.910.99)
0.018
0.94 (0.900.98)
0.002
0.91 (0.900.92)
0.001
Race-ethnicity (black
vs non-Hispanic white)
0.91 (0.860.97)
0.004
0.87 (0.780.98)
0.024
0.87 (0.780.97)
0.012
Smoker
0.84 (0.800.88)
0.001
Race-ethnicity (Asian
vs non-Hispanic white)
0.78 (0.680.89)
0.001
Diabetes mellitus
0.77 (0.740.80)
0.001
0.76 (0.660.87)
0.001
1435
1436
Stroke
July 2010
Age, y
Percent female
DTN Time
60 Minutes
(n1425)
DTN Time
60 Minutes
(n6345)
67.6 (14.7)
69.8 (14.7)
43.7%
49.9%
P Value
0.0001
0.0001
Race-ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic
1102 (77.3%)
4909 (77.4%)
Black
152 (10.7%)
766 (12.1%)
0.2607
Asian
35 (2.5%)
142 (2.2%)
Ambulance arrival
1264 (88.7%)
5549 (87.5%)
0.1955
NIHSS (median,
interquartile range)*
14.0 (9.018.0)
13.0 (8.019.0)
0.0461
0.0274
Calendar year
2003
29 (12.8%)
197 (87.2%)
2004
89 (15.9%)
472 (84.1%)
2005
277 (18.9%)
1191 (81.1%)
2006
479 (17.8%)
2210 (82.2%)
2007
551 (19.5%)
2275 (80.5%)
427 (18.6%)
1872 (81.4%)
420 (17.5%)
1975 (82.5%)
335 (19.1%)
1417 (80.9%)
164 (18.8%)
707 (81.2%)
77 (17.8%)
355 (82.2%)
GWTG-Stroke Year
0.7804
Saver et al
1437
Table 5. Characteristics of Hospitals* With Different Rates of Achievement of DTN ime <60 Minutes Among Golden Hour,
ED-Arriving Patients
Highest Quartile
Third Quartile
Second Quartile
Lowest Quartile
157 (101)
175 (130)
206 (123)
153 (93)
0.002
8.2 (7.4)
7.8 (6.2)
7.8 (4.5)
4.8 (6.4)
0.0001
38.6% (9.8)
20.2% (3.2)
9.8% (3.1)
0.03% (0.3)
0.0001
P Value
43.8 (17.9)
47.1 (18.4)
47.0 (18.3)
43.8 (18.8)
0.250
Hospital size
373.9 (214.3)
430.7 (329.0)
458.7 (296.0)
354.8 (185.1)
0.034
Nonacademic
43.0%
41.4%
33.1%
49.1%
0.094
69.4%
54.3%
67.0%
53.4%
0.072
West
20.7%
13.8%
23.7%
14.4%
0.140
South
28.1%
37.9%
28.0%
36.4%
Region
Midwest
20.7%
12.9%
22.9%
16.1%
Northeast
30.6%
35.3%
25.4%
33.1%
*Among 473 of the 905 hospitals with 5 or more golden hourarriving patients in the GWTG-Stroke database. Hospitals were divided into quartiles on the basis
of the proportion of golden hourarriving patients with an OTD 60 minutes. Quartile size and ranges are as follows: highest quartile: 121 hospitals, proportion with
DTN 60 minutes, 27 80%; third quartile: 116 hospitals, 1527%; second quartile: 118 hospitals, 314%; and lowest quartile: 118 hospitals 0 2%.
As measured in calendar year 2007.
OR (95% CI)
P Value
Severe deficit
(NIHSS 9 41 vs 0 3)
2.26 (1.453.53)
0.001
Moderate deficit
(NIHSS 4 8 vs 0 3)
1.71 (1.072.74)
0.026
Calendar year
(per 1-y increase)
1.12 (1.041.22)
0.003
0.92 (0.880.95)
0.001
0.85 (0.750.96)
0.010
Diabetes mellitus
0.79 (0.660.94)
0.007
Prior stroke/TIA
0.77 (0.650.91)
0.002
System interventions focused on continuous, iterative quality improvement can reduce DTN times for ischemic stroke
patients. In the 2 National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and StrokeTPA trials themselves, the median DTN time was
64 minutes, even though extensive research informed consents had to be obtained in all patients.23 In regular clinical
practice, select centers worldwide have reported mean DTN
times well 60 minutes, including 25 minutes in Erlangen,
Germany (M. Kohrmann and P. Schellinger, personal communication, 2010); 29 minutes in Busan, Korea24; and 38
minutes in Bergen, Norway.25 Successful centers report that
effective components of programs to accelerate DTN times
include prearrival notification by emergency medical service
providers; written protocols for acute triage and patient flow;
single call systems to activate all stroke team members; CT or
magnetic resonance scanner clearance as soon as the center is
made aware of an incoming patient; storage and rapid access
to lytic drugs in the ED; collaboration in developing treatment pathways among physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and
technologists from Emergency Medicine, Neurology, and
Radiology Departments; and continuous data collection to
drive iterative system improvement24 26 (M. Kohrmann and
P. Schellinger, personal communication, 2010).
Encouraging in our study were observations that achievement of DTN times 60 minutes was highest at hospitals
with a larger volume of IV TPA experience and a mild
temporal improving trend from 2003 to 2007. The number of
hospitals with large volume experience is likely to increase in
coming years owing to several factors, including the increase
to 4.5 hours in the time window for IV TPA, regionalization
of emergency stroke care with direct routing of patients to
state-designated stroke centers,27 and the emergence into
practice of a generation of treatment-oriented neurologists
and emergency physicians. The finding that the length of time
in the GWTG-Stroke program was not associated with an
increase in the proportion of patients treated within 60
1438
Stroke
July 2010
Sources of Funding
GWTG-Stroke is funded by the American Heart Association and the
American Stroke Association. The program is also supported in part
by unrestricted educational grants to the American Heart Association
by Pfizer, Inc, New York, NY, and the Merck-Schering Plough
Partnership (North Wales, Pa), who did not participate in the design,
analysis, manuscript preparation, or approval. J.L.S. was supported
for this work by an American Heart Association PRT Outcomes
Research Center Award and by NIH-NINDS Awards P50 NS044378
and U01 NS 44364.
Disclosures
Dr Saver serves as a member of the GWTG Science Subcommittee
and as a scientific consultant regarding trial design and conduct to
CoAxia, Concentric Medical, Talecris, and Ev3 (all modest); received lecture honoraria from Ferrer and Boehringer Ingelheim
(modest); was an unpaid investigator in a multicenter prevention trial
sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim; has declined consulting/honoraria monies from Genentech since 2002; and is an employee of the
University of California, which holds a patent on retriever devices
for stroke. Dr Smith receives research support from the NIH (NINDS
R01 NS062028), the Canadian Stroke Network, the Hotchkiss Brain
Institute, and Canadian Institutes for Health Research and receives
salary support from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. Dr
Fonarow receives research support from the NIH (significant); serves
as a consultant to Pfizer, Merck, Schering Plough, Bristol Myers
Squibb, and Sanofi-Aventis (all modest); receives speaker honoraria
from Pfizer, Merck, Schering Plough, Bristol Myers Squibb, and
Sanofi-Aventis (all significant); and is an employee of the University
of California, which holds a patent on retriever devices for stroke. Dr
Reeves receives salary support from the Michigan Stroke Registry.
Dr Zhao is a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, which
serves as the American Heart Association GWTG data coordinating
center. Dr Olson is a member of the Duke Clinical Research Institute,
which serves as the American Heart Association GWTG data
coordinating center. Dr Schwamm serves as a consultant to the
Saver et al
Research Triangle Institute, CryoCath, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
References
1. Hacke W, Kaste M, Bluhmki E, Brozman M, Davalos A, Guidetti D,
Larrue V, Lees KR, Medeghri Z, Machnig T, Schneider D, von Kummer
R, Wahlgren N, Toni D; ECASS Investigators. Thrombolysis with
alteplase 3 to 4.5 hours after acute ischemic stroke. N Engl J Med.
2008;359:13171329.
2. Lansberg MG, Schrooten M, Bluhmki E, Thijs VN, Saver JL. Treatment
time-specific number needed to treat estimates for tissue plasminogen
activator therapy in acute stroke based on shifts over the entire range of
the modified Rankin Scale. Stroke. 2009;40:2079 2084.
3. Saver JL. Time is brain quantified. Stroke. 2006;37:263266.
4. Marler JR, Winters Jones P, Emr M, The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Proceedings of a National Symposium on
Rapid Identification and Treatment of Acute Stroke. Bethesda, Md:
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; 1997.
5. Wahlgren N, Ahmed N, Davalos A, Ford GA, Grond M, Hacke W,
Hennerici MG, Kaste M, Kuelkens S, Larrue V, Lees KR, Roine RO,
Soinne L, Toni D, Vonhooren G; SITS-MOST Investigators. Thrombolysis with alteplase for acute ischaemic stroke in the Safe Implementation
of Thrombolysis in Stroke-Monitoring Study (SITS-MOST): an observational study. Lancet. 2007;369:275282. Erratum in Lancet. 2007;
369:826.
6. Hill MD, Buchan AM. Thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke: results of
the Canadian Alteplase for Stroke Effectiveness Study. Can Med Assoc J.
2005;172:13071312.
7. Evenson KR, Foraker RE, Morris DL, Rosamond WD. A comprehensive
review of prehospital and in-hospital delay times in acute stroke care. Int
J Stroke. 2009;4:187199.
8. George MG, Tong X, McGruder H, Yoon P, Rosamond W, Winquist A,
Hinchey J, Wall HK, Pandey DK; Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry Surveillance: four states, 20052007. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2009;58:123.
9. Albers GW, Bates VE, Clark WM, Bell R, Verro P, Hamilton SA.
Intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator for treatment of acute
stroke: the Standard Treatment with Alteplase to Reverse Stroke
(STARS) study. J Am Med Assoc. 2000;283:11451150.
10. Schwamm LH, Fonarow GC, Reeves MJ, Pan W, Frankel MR, Smith EE,
Ellrodt G, Cannon CP, Liang L, Peterson E, Labresh KA. Get With the
Guidelines-Stroke is associated with sustained improvement in care for
patients hospitalized with acute stroke or transient ischemic attack. Circulation. 2009;119:107115.
11. Reeves MJ, Fonarow GC, Zhao X, Smith EE, Schwamm LH. Quality of
care in women with ischemic stroke in the GWTG program. Stroke.
2009;40:11271133.
12. LaBresh KA, Reeves MJ, Frankel MR, Albright D, Schwamm LH.
Hospital treatment of patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic
attack using the Get With The Guidelines program. Arch Intern Med.
2008;168:411 417.
13. American Hospital Association. American Hospital Association Hospital
Statistics 2007. Chicago, Ill: American Hospital Association; 2007.
1439
The ''Golden Hour'' and Acute Brain Ischemia: Presenting Features and Lytic Therapy in
>30 000 Patients Arriving Within 60 Minutes of Stroke Onset
Jeffrey L. Saver, Eric E. Smith, Gregg C. Fonarow, Mathew J. Reeves, Xin Zhao, DaiWai M.
Olson and Lee H. Schwamm
on behalf of the GWTG-Stroke Steering Committee and Investigators
Stroke. 2010;41:1431-1439; originally published online June 3, 2010;
doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.583815
Stroke is published by the American Heart Association, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75231
Copyright 2010 American Heart Association, Inc. All rights reserved.
Print ISSN: 0039-2499. Online ISSN: 1524-4628
The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on the
World Wide Web at:
http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/41/7/1431
Permissions: Requests for permissions to reproduce figures, tables, or portions of articles originally published
in Stroke can be obtained via RightsLink, a service of the Copyright Clearance Center, not the Editorial Office.
Once the online version of the published article for which permission is being requested is located, click
Request Permissions in the middle column of the Web page under Services. Further information about this
process is available in the Permissions and Rights Question and Answer document.
Reprints: Information about reprints can be found online at:
http://www.lww.com/reprints
Subscriptions: Information about subscribing to Stroke is online at:
http://stroke.ahajournals.org//subscriptions/
Artculos originales
La hora de oro en la isquemia cerebral aguda
Forma de presentacin y terapia ltica en ms de 30.000 pacientes
que acudieron en los primeros 60 minutos tras el inicio del ictus
Jeffrey L. Saver, MD; Eric E. Smith, MD, MPH; Gregg C. Fonarow, MD;
Mathew J. Reeves, PhD; Xin Zhao, MS; DaiWai M. Olson, PhD, RN; Lee H. Schwamm, MD;
en nombre del comit directivo y los investigadores del GWTG-Stroke
Antecedentes y objetivoEl efecto beneficioso que aporta el tratamiento tromboltico intravenoso en la isquemia cerebral
aguda est sujeto a una clara dependencia del tiempo.
MtodosSe analiz la base de datos Get With the GuidelinesStroke para caracterizar a los pacientes con ictus isqumico
que acudieron a servicios de urgencias hospitalarios en un plazo de 60 minutos tras el ltimo momento conocido en que
estuvieron bien, entre el 1 de abril de 2003 y el 30 de diciembre de 2007.
ResultadosDurante el periodo de estudio de 4,75 aos, de los 253.148 pacientes con ictus isqumico que llegaron directamente en ambulancia o en vehculos particulares a 905 servicios de urgencias hospitalarios, en un total de 106.924 (42,2%)
se document cul era el ltimo momento conocido en el que el paciente haba estado bien. El tiempo inicio-puerta fue
60 minutos en 30.220 (28,3%), de 61 a 180 minutos en 33.858 (31,7%), y >180 minutos en 42.846 (40,1%). Las caractersticas con mayor capacidad de diferenciacin de los pacientes que acudan en un plazo de 60, 61 a 180 o >180
minutos fueron la mayor gravedad del ictus (mediana de puntuacin de la National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, 8,0
frente a 6,0 frente a 4,0, p<0,0001) y la mayor frecuencia de llegada en ambulancia (79,0% frente a 72,2% frente a 55,0%,
p<0,0001). En comparacin con los pacientes que llegaron a los 61 a 180 minutos, los pacientes que llegaron en la hora
de oro recibieron con mayor frecuencia tratamiento tromboltico intravenoso (27,1% frente a 12,9%; odds ratio 2,51; IC
del 95%, 2,412,61; p<0,0001), pero el tiempo puerta-aguja fue mayor (media, 90,6 frente a 76,7 minutos, p<0,0001).
Se alcanz un tiempo puerta-aguja de 60 minutos en el 18,3% de los pacientes llegados en la hora de oro.
ConclusionesEn los servicios de urgencias del Get With the Guidelines-Stroke, ms de una cuarta parte de los pacientes
con una hora de inicio documentada y al menos una octava parte del total de pacientes con ictus isqumicos llegaron en
un plazo de 1 hora tras el inicio del cuadro, y estos pacientes recibieron tratamiento tromboltico con mayor frecuencia
aunque de forma ms lenta que los pacientes que llegaron tras un periodo de tiempo mayor. Estos resultados respaldan
las iniciativas de salud pblica destinadas a aumentar la consulta rpida y reducir el tiempo puerta-aguja en los pacientes
que acuden en la hora de oro. (Traducido del ingls: The Golden Hour and Acute Brain Ischemia: Presenting
Features and Lytic Therapy in >30 000 Patients Arriving Within 60 Minutes of Stroke Onset. Stroke. 2010;41:
1431-1439.)
Palabras clave: acute care n acute therapy n acute stroke n emergency medical services n emergency medicine n stroke
care n stroke delivery n therapy n thrombolysis n thrombolytic therapy
l efecto beneficioso que aporta el tratamiento tromboltico intravenoso (i.v.) en la isquemia cerebral aguda est
sujeto a una clara dependencia del tiempo. El rendimiento
teraputico es mximo en los primeros minutos tras la aparicin de los sntomas y se reduce rpidamente durante las
4,5 horas siguientes1,2. En el ictus isqumico de arterias grandes tpico, por cada minuto que se retrasa la reperfusin, se
produce la muerte de 2 millones de neuronas3. En cada 100
pacientes a los que se aplica un tratamiento i.v., por cada 10
minutos de retraso en la instauracin de la infusin de la terapia ltica dentro de la ventana teraputica de 1 a 3 horas, hay
1 paciente menos que alcanza una mejora en los resultados de
discapacidad2. Por consiguiente, los pacientes que acuden al
hospital en los primeros 60 minutos tras el inicio son los que
tienen mayores posibilidades de obtener un efecto beneficioso con el tratamiento de recanalizacin. Dada la importancia
crucial que tiene el tratamiento rpido, las recomendaciones
nacionales para los hospitales que aceptan a pacientes con
Recibido el 6 de marzo de 2010; revisin final recibida el 12 de marzo de 2010; aceptado el 17 de marzo de 2010.
Department of Neurology (J.L.S.), University of California, Los Angeles, Calif; Department of Clinical Neurosciences (E.E.S.), Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canad; Division of Cardiology (G.C.F.), University of California, Los Angeles, Calif; Department of Epidemiology
(M.J.R.), Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich; Duke Clinical Research Center (X.Z., D.M.O.), Durham, NC; y Department of Neurology
(L.H.S.), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass.
Remitir la correspondencia a Jeffrey L. Saver, MD, UCLA Stroke Center, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095. E-mail jsaver@ucla.edu
2010 American Heart Association, Inc.
Stroke est disponible en http://www.stroke.ahajournals.org
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.583815
Mtodos
La American Heart Association y la American Stroke Association pusieron en marcha la iniciativa GWTG-Stroke orientada al rediseo de los sistemas de asistencia hospitalarios
para mejorar la calidad de la asistencia de los pacientes con
ictus o ataque isqumico transitorio10,11. La GWTG utiliza un
instrumento de gestin de los pacientes a travs de Internet
(Outcome Sciences, Inc, Cambridge, Mass) para obtener datos clnicos de pacientes consecutivos ingresados, aportar un
apoyo a la toma de decisiones y permitir la notificacin de
sus caractersticas online en tiempo real. Despus de una fase
piloto inicial llevada a cabo en 8 estados de EEUU, el programa GWTG-Stroke se puso a disposicin de cualquier hospital
de este pas en abril de 200312. Se incluyeron en este anlisis
los datos de los hospitales que se incorporaron al programa
en cualquier momento entre abril de 2003 y diciembre de
106.924
Valor de
p
146.224
74 (14,35)
Mujeres
75 (14,39)
0,0001
51,5%
54,6%
0,0001
Blancos, no-hispanos
75,4%
72,1%
0,0001
Negros
13,4%
16,7%
Raza/origen tnico
Asiticos
Llegada mediante servicios de
emergencias mdicas (frente
a vehculo particular)
NIHSS* (mediana, rango
intercuartiles)
2,3%
2,3%
67,2%
54,7%
6 (213)
4 (19)
0,0001
0,0001
Antecedentes de
fibrilacin/flter auricular
20,2%
16,8%
0,0001
Ictus/AIT previo
30,5%
31,5%
0,0001
Enfermedad coronaria/infarto
de miocardio previo
28,0%
27,4%
0,0005
Estenosis carotdea
4,3%
4,4%
0,4445
4,8%
5,3%
0,0001
Diabetes mellitus
27,5%
31,5%
0,0001
73,6%
74,7%
0,0001
Fumadores
17,1%
17,2%
0,4879
Antecedentes de dislipidemia
36,2%
34,2%
0,0001
11,7%
0,5%
0,0001
301
31,2%
30,1%
0,0001
101300
57,5%
57,8%
0100
11,3%
12,2%
375
38,5%
367
39,9%
0,0001
Oeste
19,3%
16,7%
0,0001
Sur
35,3%
38,1%
Medio oeste
19,7%
19,4%
Nordeste
25,7%
25,9%
0,0001
Resultados
61180 Minutos
180 Minutos
Valor P
30.220
33.858
42.846
71,3 (14,4)
72,0 (14,3)
70,6 (14,2)
50,8%
52,2%
51,5%
0,002
0,0001
0,0001
Raza/origen tnico
Blancos, no-hispanos
77,3%
77,5%
72,5%
Negros
11,8%
11,9%
15,8%
2,0%
2,1%
2,7%
79,0%
72,2%
55,0%
0,0001
8(316)
6 (212)
4 (29)
0,0001
Asiticos
Llegada mediante servicios de emergencias
mdicas (frente a vehculo particular)
NIHSS* (mediana, rango intercuartiles)
Antecedentes de fibrilacin/flter auricular
24,3%
21,7%
16,2%
0,0001
Ictus/AIT previo
30,0%
32,0%
29,6%
0,0001
Enfermedad coronaria/infarto de
miocardio previo
29,4%
28,9%
26,3%
0,0001
Estenosis carotdea
4,2%
4,4%
4,4%
0,57
4,7%
5,0%
4,8%
0,32
Diabetes mellitus
23,4%
27,0%
30,8%
0,0001
71,9%
73,7%
74,9%
0,0001
Fumadores
84,4%
84,6%
80,6%
0,0001
Antecedentes de dislipidemia
35,1%
36,5%
36,8%
0,0001
0,0001
29,5%
32,3%
31,6%
101300
58,3%
56,7%
57,6%
0100
12,2%
11,0%
10,8%
358
380
380
0,0001
41,0%
38,0%
37,2%
0,0001
Oeste
20,4%
18,4%
19,2%
0,0001
Sur
34,2%
36,3%
35,5%
Medio oeste
19,3%
19,1%
20,4%
Nordeste
26,1%
26,2%
24,9%
llegaron directamente al SU en los que se estableci un diagnstico final de ataque isqumico transitorio.) Los 12.545
pacientes con ictus isqumico tratados con tPA constituan
un 11,8% del total de pacientes con ictus isqumico que acudieron directamente al SU con un TUMB documentado y un
5,0% del total de pacientes con ictus isqumico que acudieron directamente al SU. De los pacientes con ictus isqumico
tratados con tPA i.v., 8.111 (64,7%) llegaron al hospital en
los primeros 60 minutos, 4.327 (34,5%) entre los 61 y los
180 minutos, y 107 (0,9%) en un tiempo >180 minutos. En
comparacin con los pacientes que acudieron en 61 a 180 minutos, los que llegaron en los primeros 60 minutos recibieron tratamiento trombtico i.v. con mayor frecuencia (27,1%
frente a 12,9%, odds ratio sin ajustar = 2,51; IC del 95%,
2,41 a 2,61, p<0,0001).
Valor de p
0,001
1,78 (1,701,87)
0,001
1,21 (1,161,26)
0,001
0,001
Enfermedad coronaria/infarto
de miocardio previo
1,08 (1,031,12)
0,001
Ictus/AIT previo
0,96 (0,921,00)
0,049
0,95 (0,910,99)
0,018
0,94 (0,900,98)
0,002
0,91 (0,900,92)
0,001
0,91 (0,860,97)
0,004
0,87 (0,780,98)
0,024
0,87 (0,780,97)
0,012
Fumadores
0,84 (0,800,88)
0,001
0,78 (0,680,89)
0,001
Diabetes mellitus
0,77 (0,740,80)
0,001
0,76 (0,660,87)
0,001
La media de tiempo IPA para el conjunto de los pacientes tratados con tPA i.v. fue de 86 minutos (DE, 41,6). Se
observ una relacin inversa entre el tiempo IIP y el tiempo
IPA, con un coeficiente de correlacin de -0,30 (Figura 1).
El tiempo IPA fue mayor en los pacientes que llegaron en la
primera hora, seguido del de los pacientes que llegaron en 1
a 3 horas (media, 90,6 frente a 76,7 minutos, p<0,0001). La
distribucin de los tiempos IPA en los pacientes que llegaron
en un plazo 1 hora se muestra en la Figura 2. El tiempo
medio total transcurrido desde el inicio de los sntomas hasta
el tratamiento en los pacientes que acudieron en la primera
67,6 (
Porcentaje de mujeres
14,7)
43,7%
Tiempo
IPA > 60 minutos
(n = 6.345)
Valor de p
69,8 ( 14,7)
0,0001
49,9%
0,0001
Raza/origen tnico
Blancos, no-hispanos
Negros
Asiticos
1.102 (77,3%)
4.909 (77,4%)
152 (10,7%)
766 (12,1%)
35 (2,5%)
142 (2,2%)
Llegada en ambulancia
1.264 (88,7%)
5.549 (87,5%)
NIHSS (mediana,
rango intercuartiles)*
14,0 (9,018,0)
0,2607
0,1955
13,0 (8,019,0)
0,0461
0,0274
Ao natural
2003
29 (12,8%)
197 (87,2%)
2004
89 (15,9%)
472 (84,1%)
2005
277 (18,9%)
1.191 (81,1%)
2006
479 (17,8%)
2.210 (82,2%)
2007
551 (19,5%)
2.275 (80,5%)
427 (18,6%)
1.872 (81,4%)
420 (17,5%)
1.975 (82,5%)
335 (19,1%)
1.417 (80,9%)
164 (18,8%)
707 (81,2%)
77 (17,8%)
355 (82,2%)
0,7804
ra independiente a los tiempos IPA 60 minutos en los pacientes que llegaban en la hora de oro se muestran en la Tabla
6. La mayor gravedad del ictus aumentaba la probabilidad de
que se iniciara el tratamiento ltico en el plazo de 1 hora tras
la llegada, mientras que la edad ms avanzada, el sexo femenino y los antecedentes de ictus/ataque isqumico transitorio
previos reducan esta probabilidad.
Discusin
Cuartil inferior
Valor de p
157 (
101)
175 ( 130)
206 (
123)
153 ( 93)
0,002
7,4)
7,8 (
7,8 (
4,5)
4,8 (
6,4)
0,0001
9,8% ( 3,1)
0,03% (
0,3)
0,0001
43,8 (
17,9)
47,1 ( 18,4)
47,0 ( 18,3)
373,9 (
214,3)
430,7 ( 329,0)
458,7 ( 296,0)
9,8)
Tercer cuartil
6,2)
20,2% ( 3,2)
Segundo cuartil
43,8 ( 18,8)
354,8 (
185,1)
0,250
0,034
No acadmico
43,0%
41,4%
33,1%
49,1%
0,094
69,4%
54,3%
67,0%
53,4%
0,072
Oeste
20,7%
13,8%
23,7%
14,4%
0,140
Sur
28,1%
37,9%
28,0%
36,4%
Medio oeste
20,7%
12,9%
22,9%
16,1%
Nordeste
30,6%
35,3%
25,4%
33,1%
Regin
*En los 473 del total de 905 hospitales con 5 o ms pacientes llegados en la hora de oro que fueron incluidos en la base de datos GWTG-Stroke. Los hospitales se
dividieron en cuartiles basndose en la proporcin de pacientes llegados en la hora de oro en que hubo un IIP 60 minutos. Tamao del cuartil y rangos como sigue:
cuartil mximo: 121 hospitales, proporcin con un tiempo IPA 60 minutos, 2780%; tercer cuartil: 116 hospitales, 15%27%; segundo cuartil: 118 hospitales,
3%14%; y cuartil inferior: 118 hospitales 0%2%.
Medido en el ao natural 2007.
de pacientes, familiares y testigos presenciales para que sepan identificar los sntomas de ictus y reaccionar ante dficit
menos graves o ms graves llamando al telfono de emergencias y activando el sistema de emergencias mdicas. Otro
factor que afect a la llegada en la primera hora fue la raza/
origen tnico, de tal manera que los individuos negros y asiticos tenan una menor probabilidad de acudir en la hora de
oro que los blancos no hispanos. En un reciente estudio realizado en 13 estados y en el Distrito de Columbia de EEUU,
el conocimiento de los sntomas de alarma del ictus y de la
importancia de poner en marcha el sistema del telfono de
emergencia fue menos comn en los grupos raciales/tnicos
negros, hispanos y de otras razas (predominantemente asiticos) que en los blancos14. Varios estudios han indicado que
los pacientes blancos no hispanos con ictus tienen una mayor
Tabla 6. Caractersticas a nivel de paciente y a nivel de hospital
asociadas de manera independiente al tiempo IPA 60 minutos en
pacientes que llegaron al SU en los primeros 60 minutos tras el
inicio del ictus
Caracterstica
Valor de p
Dficit grave
(NIHSS 941 frente a 03)
2,26 (1,453,53)
0,001
Dficit moderado
(NIHSS 48 frente a 03)
1,71 (1,072,74)
0,026
Ao natural
(por 1 ao de aumento)
1,12 (1,041,22)
0,003
0,92 (0,880,95)
0,001
0,85 (0,750,96)
0,010
Diabetes mellitus
0,79 (0,660,94)
0,007
Ictus/AIT previo
0,77 (0,650,91)
0,002
locales, la realizacin por parte de los hospitales de programas de formacin para estos servicios, la existencia de un
sistema regional de asistencia del ictus con envo de estos
pacientes directamente a los centros designados, la ubicacin
de los escneres de TC o resonancia magntica en el SU, y
las polticas relativas al uso de pruebas complementarias antes del tratamiento, como estudios de la coagulacin, angioTC y TC de perfusin o resonancia magntica multimodal.
La calidad de los datos es siempre motivo de preocupacin
en los estudios de registro, y el registro GWTG-Stroke es
aplicado por un grupo diverso de usuarios. Para optimizar
la calidad de los datos, el programa GWTG-Stroke incluye
una capacitacin detallada de los encargados de la extraccin
de los datos del registro del centro, las definiciones estandarizadas de los casos y las instrucciones de codificacin, el
mtodo y la amplitud de las verificaciones de datos predefinidas al introducirlos, las auditorias y los informes regulares
de calidad en todos los centros. Las auditoras limitadas de
la documentacin original a nivel de estado y de centro han
mostrado una calidad de los datos elevada, y se est realizando actualmente una auditora representativa de todo el pas.
No obstante, como en cualquier registro cardiovascular y de
ictus, los datos estn sujetos a limitaciones en la calidad y
exactitud de los propios registros mdicos, as como en la
calidad del proceso de extraccin de datos a partir de ellos.
Adems, hay una parte de pacientes con ictus isqumico en
los que no se dispone de informacin sobre el momento de
inicio, no por limitaciones en la calidad de los datos sino porque no es posible obtener del paciente esa informacin.
Nuestra conclusin es que los pacientes que acuden dentro
de la hora de oro constituyen una poblacin sustancial, que
supone como mnimo 1 de cada 8 pacientes con ictus isqumico que llegan directamente al SU. La llegada en ambulancia en vez de en vehculo particular fue uno de los factores
determinantes ms potentes de la llegada dentro de la hora
de oro. A la llegada, estos pacientes recibieron un tratamiento tromboltico con ms frecuencia y de manera ms rpida
que los pacientes que acudieron de forma tarda. Aunque el
objetivo de un tiempo IPA 60 minutos se alcanza en menos
de una quinta parte de los pacientes que llegan en la hora de
oro, los tiempos de tratamiento muestran una tendencia a una
mejora leve de mbito nacional y son mejores en los centros con un volumen de tratamiento elevado. Estos resultados
respaldan los esfuerzos de educacin sanitaria del pblico
para aumentar la proporcin de pacientes que acuden en los
primeros 30 a 60 minutos tras el inicio del ictus al hacer hincapi en la identificacin de los sntomas y la activacin inmediata de la llamada al nmero de emergencias. Estos datos
estimulan tambin la dedicacin de nuevas energas a las actividades destinadas a la mejora de los resultados de los hospitales para reducir el tiempo IPA en los pacientes que acuden dentro de la hora de oro, cuando el volumen de cerebro
que se puede salvar y la capacidad de obtencin de un efecto
beneficioso del tratamiento de reperfusin son mximos.
Fuentes de financiacin
Declaraciones
Bibliografa
1. Hacke W, Kaste M, Bluhmki E, Brozman M, Davalos A, Guidetti D,
Larrue V, Lees KR, Medeghri Z, Machnig T, Schneider D, von Kummer
R, Wahlgren N, Toni D; ECASS Investigators. Thrombolysis with
alteplase 3 to 4.5 hours after acute ischemic stroke. N Engl J Med.
2008;359:13171329.
2. Lansberg MG, Schrooten M, Bluhmki E, Thijs VN, Saver JL. Treatment
time-specific number needed to treat estimates for tissue plasminogen
activator therapy in acute stroke based on shifts over the entire range of
the modified Rankin Scale. Stroke. 2009;40:2079 2084.
3. Saver JL. Time is brain quantified. Stroke. 2006;37:263266.
4. Marler JR, Winters Jones P, Emr M, The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Proceedings of a National Symposium on
Rapid Identification and Treatment of Acute Stroke. Bethesda, Md:
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; 1997.
5. Wahlgren N, Ahmed N, Davalos A, Ford GA, Grond M, Hacke W,
Hennerici MG, Kaste M, Kuelkens S, Larrue V, Lees KR, Roine RO,
Soinne L, Toni D, Vonhooren G; SITS-MOST Investigators. Thrombolysis with alteplase for acute ischaemic stroke in the Safe Implementation
of Thrombolysis in Stroke-Monitoring Study (SITS-MOST): an observational study. Lancet. 2007;369:275282. Erratum in Lancet. 2007;
369:826.
6. Hill MD, Buchan AM. Thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke: results of
the Canadian Alteplase for Stroke Effectiveness Study. Can Med Assoc J.
2005;172:13071312.
7. Evenson KR, Foraker RE, Morris DL, Rosamond WD. A comprehensive
review of prehospital and in-hospital delay times in acute stroke care. Int
J Stroke. 2009;4:187199.
8. George MG, Tong X, McGruder H, Yoon P, Rosamond W, Winquist A,
Hinchey J, Wall HK, Pandey DK; Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry Surveillance: four states, 20052007. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2009;58:123.
9. Albers GW, Bates VE, Clark WM, Bell R, Verro P, Hamilton SA.
Intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator for treatment of acute
stroke: the Standard Treatment with Alteplase to Reverse Stroke
(STARS) study. J Am Med Assoc. 2000;283:11451150.
10. Schwamm LH, Fonarow GC, Reeves MJ, Pan W, Frankel MR, Smith EE,
Ellrodt G, Cannon CP, Liang L, Peterson E, Labresh KA. Get With the
Guidelines-Stroke is associated with sustained improvement in care for
patients hospitalized with acute stroke or transient ischemic attack. Circulation. 2009;119:107115.
11. Reeves MJ, Fonarow GC, Zhao X, Smith EE, Schwamm LH. Quality of
care in women with ischemic stroke in the GWTG program. Stroke.
2009;40:11271133.
12. LaBresh KA, Reeves MJ, Frankel MR, Albright D, Schwamm LH.
Hospital treatment of patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic
6. Hill MD, Buchan AM. Thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke: results of
the Canadian Alteplase for Stroke Effectiveness Study. Can Med Assoc J.
2005;172:13071312.
7. Evenson KR, Foraker RE, Morris DL, Rosamond WD. A comprehensive
review of prehospital and in-hospital delay times in acute stroke care. Int
J Stroke. 2009;4:187199.
8. George MG, Tong X, McGruder H, Yoon P, Rosamond W, Winquist A,
Hinchey J, Wall HK, Pandey DK; Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry Surveillance: four states, 20052007. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2009;58:123.
9. Albers GW, Bates VE, Clark WM, Bell R, Verro P, Hamilton SA.
Intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator for treatment of acute
stroke: the Standard Treatment with Alteplase to Reverse Stroke
(STARS) study. J Am Med Assoc. 2000;283:11451150.
10. Schwamm LH, Fonarow GC, Reeves MJ, Pan W, Frankel MR, Smith EE,
Ellrodt G, Cannon CP, Liang L, Peterson E, Labresh KA. Get With the
Guidelines-Stroke is associated with sustained improvement in care for
patients hospitalized with acute stroke or transient ischemic attack. Circulation. 2009;119:107115.
11. Reeves MJ, Fonarow GC, Zhao X, Smith EE, Schwamm LH. Quality of
care in women with ischemic stroke in the GWTG program. Stroke.
2009;40:11271133.
12. LaBresh KA, Reeves MJ, Frankel MR, Albright D, Schwamm LH.
Hospital treatment of patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic
attack using the Get With The Guidelines program. Arch Intern Med.
2008;168:411 417.
13. American Hospital Association. American Hospital Association Hospital
Statistics 2007. Chicago, Ill: American Hospital Association; 2007.
14. Awareness of stroke warning symptoms13 states and the District of
Columbia, 2005. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2008;57:481 485.
15. Stansbury JP, Jia H, Williams LS, Vogel WB, Duncan PW. Ethnic
disparities in stroke: epidemiology, acute care, and postacute outcomes.
Stroke. 2005;36:374 386.
16. Schumacher HC, Bateman BT, Boden-Albala B, Berman MF, Mohr JP,
Sacco RL, Pile-Spellman J. Use of thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke:
analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 1999 to 2004. Ann Emerg
Med. 2007;50:99 107.
17. Kreuter MW, Wray RJ. Tailored and targeted health communication:
strategies for enhancing information relevance. Am J Health Behav.
2003;27(suppl 3):S227S232.
18. California Acute Stroke Pilot Registry (CASPR) Investigators. Prioritizing interventions to improve rates of thrombolysis for ischemic stroke.
Neurology. 2005;64:654 659.
19. Laloux P, Thijs V, Peeters A, Desfontaines P. Obstacles to the use of
intravenous tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke: is
time the only barrier? Acta Neurol Belg. 2007;107:103107.
20. ESO Executive Committee, ESO Writing Committee. European Stroke
Organization Guideline Update, January 2009 [online]. Available at:
http://www.eso-stroke.org/pdf/ESO%20Guidelines_update_Jan_2009.pdf.
21. Lindsay PBP, Bayley MMD, Hellings CB, Hill MMMD, Woodbury
EBMHA, Phillips SM. CanadianDownloaded
best practice from
recommendations
for
stroke.ahajournals.org
at
stroke care (updated 2008). Can Med Assoc J. 2008;179:S1S25.
22. Del Zoppo GJ, Saver JL, Jauch EC, Adams HP Jr. Expansion of the time
window for treatment of acute ischemic stroke with intravenous tissue
plasminogen activator: a science advisory from the American Heart
Association/American Stroke Association. Stroke. 2009;40:29452948.
23. NINDS t-PA Stroke Study Investigators. NINDS t-PA Stroke Study Data
Set (on CD-ROM). 2006. Available for purchase at: www.ntis.gov.
24. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
rt-PA Stroke Study Group. A systems approach to immediate evaluation
and management of hyperacute stroke. Experience at eight centers and
implications for community practice and patient care. Stroke. 1997;28:
1530 1540.
25. Tveiten A, Mygland A, Ljostad U, Thomassen L. Intravenous thrombolysis
for ischaemic stroke: short delays and high community-based treatment rates
after organisational changes in a previously inexperienced centre. Emerg
Med J. 2009;26:324 326.
26. A systems approach to immediate evaluation and management of
hyperacute stroke: experience at eight centers and implications for community practice and patient care. The National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) rt-PA Stroke Study Group. Stroke. 1997;
28:1530 1540.
27. Schwamm LH, Pancioli A, Acker JE III, Goldstein LB, Zorowitz RD,
Shephard TJ, Moyer P, Gorman M, Johnston SC, Duncan PW, Gorelick
P, Frank J, Stranne SK, Smith R, Federspiel W, Horton KB, Magnis E,
Adams RJ; American Stroke Associations Task Force on the Development of Stroke Systems. Recommendations for the establishment of
stroke systems of care: recommendations from the American Stroke
Associations Task Force on the development of stroke systems. Stroke.
2005;36:690 703.
WKH on F