More Evidence to Support Referral to Specialized Stroke Centers

The approval of thrombolysis has challenged hospitals to reconfigure their emergency services to provide timely treatment to patients with acute stroke. After the finding that treatment with thrombolysis at specialized centers is associated with reduced mortality, discussion intensified regarding selective referral to certified stroke centers. To evaluate whether reconfiguration of stroke protocols in two large cities (London and Manchester) in England was associated with changes in mortality and length of hospital stay, researchers conducted an observational study of 258,915 patients referred to hyperacute stroke centers or primary stroke centers over a 5-year period spanning the periods before and after protocol changes to a hub-and-spoke…