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The short therapeutic window for treating acute ischemic stroke with thrombolytics is a key reason that few patients receive this intervention. Researchers in Germany randomized 100 patients aged 18 to 80 years with stroke symptom onset within the previous 2.5 hours to prehospital treatment by a mobile stroke unit or standard hospital treatment. The mobile stroke unit was a specialized ambulance equipped with a computed tomography (CT) scanner, point-of-care laboratory, and telemedicine connection, and was staffed by a paramedic, a stroke physician, and a neuroradiologist. CT scanning was not performed in the mobile unit for 12 patients because of scanner dysfunction or patient obesity.
Ischemic stroke was diagnosed in 55% of patients in the…