MONDAY, Jan. 10, 2005 (HealthDayNews) -- Telephone support from urban stroke center doctors improves the treatment of stroke patients in rural hospitals, says a study in the Jan. 11 issue of Neurology.
The stroke center doctors helped doctors at rural hospitals decide when and how to use the clot-busting drug tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) on stroke patients. While this drug can help save the lives of stroke patients, it can be complicated to use. The drug carries some risks, can be used only in certain patients, and must be given within three hours of the first stroke symptoms.
Some rural hospitals don't have medical staff with experience using tPA. That means that the drug is often not given to patients who would benefit from it. Often, stroke patients in rural hospitals have to be transported to urban hospitals to receive tPA.
This study compared outcomes of stroke patients in rural hospitals who were treated with the help of telephone support from urban stroke center doctors and patients treated at a stroke center.
"Overall, the results were equivalent for those treated by telephone and those treated on-site. The most important result was that 53 people received tPA who otherwise would not have received it," study author Dr. James L. Frey, director of the stroke program and Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, said in a prepared statement.
More information
The American Heart Association has more about tPA.
