Stroke thrombolysis in New Zealand: data from the first 6 months of the New Zealand Thrombolysis Register.

Stroke thrombolysis in New Zealand: data from the first 6 months of the New Zealand Thrombolysis Register. N Z Med J. 2016;129(1438):44-9 Authors: Joshi P, Fink J, Barber PA, Davis A, Lanford J, Seymour A, Wright P, Busby W, Abernethy G, Ranta AA Abstract The New Zealand National Stroke Network introduced a National Stroke Thrombolysis Register on the first of January 2015 to assist with quality assurance and continuous service improvement. In the first 6 months, there were 179 [75 women, mean (SD) age 69.9 (14) years] treated with stroke thrombolysis out of a total of 2,796 ischaemic stroke patients, giving a national thrombolysis rate of 6.4%. The median [Inter-quartile range (IQR)] onset-to-treatment time was 154 (125-190) minutes, and the median (IQR) door-to-needle time was 74.5 (55.7-105.0) minutes. The rate of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage following thrombolysis was 4.4%. These results are similar to other international centres, and indicate an approximate doubling of the proportion of stroke patients treated with stroke thrombolysis since a 2009 national audit. However, there is need for on-going efforts to improve treatment rates and process efficiency, particularly door-toneedle times. PMID: 27447135 [PubMed - in process]
Source: New Zealand Medical Journal - Category: Journals (General) Tags: N Z Med J Source Type: research