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The most important factor demonstrated to improve outcomes for patients treated with thrombolytic therapy for acute stroke is time to treatment. In this prospective study, researchers assessed changes in door-to-treatment time at a hospital in Helsinki where 12 process interventions to reduce stroke treatment delays were instituted from 1998 to 2005.
Among 1860 adult patients who received tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke from 1998 to 2011, median door-to-treatment time declined from 105 minutes (interquartile range, 65–120) to 20 minutes (IQR, 14–32). Median time from onset of symptoms to treatment declined from 160 to 115 minutes, and the annual number of patients treated with thrombolytic therapy increased tenfold. In…