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CDC Stroke Registry Suggests Ways to Improve Care
In treating stroke, both physicians and the public can improve their roles, according to a 3-year analysis of results published in MMWR.
Data on some 60,000 patients with stroke from Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, and North Carolina were entered into the federally sponsored Paul Coverdell National Acute Stroke Registry between 2005 and 2007. Stroke types were as follows: hemorrhagic, 14%; ischemic, 56%; transient ischemic attack, 22%; and "ill-defined," 7%.
Researchers examined 10 treatment performance measures and their use among eligible patients. Among the results:
- Over a third of patients used private transportation rather than emergency medical services to get to the hospital.
- Only about 20% arrived at the hospital within 2 hours of symptom onset.
- Almost all got antithrombotic therapy at discharge (98%) and within 48 hours of admission (95%).
- About two thirds of those eligible received lipid-level testing.
- About a third of those eligible received tissue plasminogen activator.
LINK(S):
MMWR Surveillance Summaries article (Free)
Published in Physician's First Watch November 6, 2009
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