Telestroke: Connected Care Helps Stroke Patients (text only version)

The social impact of stroke is devastating.

• No. 5 killer (1)
• Leading cause of disability (2)
• 800,000 strokes annually (3)
• African-Americans &Hispanics are more likely to die after a stroke, compared to whites (4)

Timely care is key to improving patient outcomes. IV tPA (alteplase) is a clot-busting drug that helps reverse disability from the most common type of stroke if given within 3 to 4.5 hours of symptom onset.

People who receive tPA within 90 minutes of symptom onset are almost 3x more likely to have favorable outcomes 3 months after a stroke. (5)

Telestroke can help increase timely access to stroke care.

• Allows neurologists to deliver remote treatment to stroke victims through interactive videoconferencing.
• Helps overcome common obstacles to timely access to stroke care like long travel times to stroke center hospitals.
• One study found telestroke increased use of tPA by two to six times. (6)
• Proven effective in reducing racial and ethnic disparities in access to stroke care.(7)

Learn more and ask your legislators to support increasing access to telestroke at Heart.org/FASTACT.

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Citations

1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NCHS Data Brief: Mortality in the US, 2013. NVSR. Volume 64, Number 178. Accessed January 15, 2015. Published in American Heart Association. Facts: Preventable, Treatable, Beatable. Stroke in the U.S. January 1, 2015.
http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@adv/documents/downloadable/ucm_471883.pdf

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NCHS Data Brief: Mortality in the US, 2013. NVSR. Volume 64, Number 178. Accessed January 15, 2015. Published in American Heart Association. Facts: Preventable, Treatable, Beatable. Stroke in the U.S. January 1, 2015.

3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NCHS Data Brief: Mortality in the US, 2013. NVSR. Volume 64, Number 178. Accessed January 15, 2015. Published in American Heart Association. Facts: Preventable, Treatable, Beatable. Stroke in the U.S. January 1, 2015.

4 American Heart Association. Facts: Preventable, Treatable, Beatable. Stroke in the U.S. January 1, 2015. http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@adv/documents/downloadable/ucm_471883.pdf

5 Lattimore SU, et. al. Impact of establishing a primary stroke center at a community hospital on the use of thrombolytic therapy: the NINDS Suburban Hospital Stroke Center experience. Stroke. 2003; 34: 55-57. Published in American Heart Association. Facts. Telestroke: Connecting Patients to Quality Treatment. March 2015. http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/heart-public/@wcm/@adv/documents/downloadable/ucm_473486.pdf

6 Cutting S, et al.. Telestroke in an urban setting. Telemed JE Health. 2014;20(9):855-7.

7 The effects of telemedicine on racial and ethnic disparities in access to acute stroke care. J Telemed Telecare. June 26, 2015.