B.5 Video-based prehospital teletriage for acute stroke: primary results from a regional pilot-study

Abstract

Background: Only limited data exist on the potential benefit of prehospital video-based teletriage for patients with acute stroke. Methods: During a 6-month period, all patients from a defined geographical catchment area with a 911 call for acute stroke were screened by the paramedic team on site. Those with known symptom onset of <6h underwent video-based teletriage for transfer to either the closest tertiary (for suspected LVO occlusion) or to the closest secondary stroke centers. Patients referred for thrombectomy by same the secondary stroke centers without teletriage during the same period served as control. Results: Overall, 33 patients were teletriaged and 23 (70%) were bypassed to the tertiary center. Of the latter, 13 (median NIHSS 19) underwent thrombectomy (+/- iv thrombolysis). During the same period, 22 patients (median NIHSS 17) were referred for thrombectomy without teletriage. The median time from 911 to thrombectomy was 129 [IQR 51] min after teletriage, as compared to 196 [74] min in controls (p=0.015). The median NIHSS at 24h was 6 in the teletriage group versus 14.5 in controls (p=0.07). Conclusions: Video-based prehospital teletriage for acute stroke is feasible, reliably identifies patients without LVO stroke and significantly improves the delay between stroke alert and thrombectomy in eligible LVO stroke patients.