Stroke mimics in the pre-hospital setting

Accurate identification of stroke patients is essential to ensure appropriate and timely treatment. Stroke mimics—patients initially suspected to have suffered a stroke who are subsequently diagnosed with a condition other than stroke—are estimated to account for 5–33% of suspected stroke patients conveyed by paramedics to a hospital stroke unit. The prevalence of stroke mimics in London has not been investigated although pan-London hospital data suggests that one quarter of all patients admitted to hyper-acute stroke units (HASUs) are stroke mimics. Participants were recruited as part of a larger study investigating whether the use of the Recognition of Stroke in the Emergency Room (ROSIER) tool by ambulance crews improved pre-hospital stroke recognition. Only patients indicated by the ROSIER to have potentially suffered a stroke and conveyed to a participating HASU (n=256) were included. A final diagnosis of stroke was received by 160 patients ("strokes") while 96 patients received a final diagnosis of non-stroke ("mimics"), resulting in a stroke mimic rate of 38%. Mimics received a wide range of diagnoses, including seizure, syncope, brain tumour, non-organic stroke/symptoms, sepsis, somatisation, and migraine. Compared to strokes, mimics had a lower total ROSIER score, displayed fewer stroke-related symptoms, and presented with more symptoms not indicative of a stroke (e.g. loss of consciousness/syncope, seizure). The stroke mimic rate is higher than rep...
Source: Emergency Medicine Journal - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Posters Source Type: research