Telemedicine for Optimized Collection of CLinical datA in Patients With Suspicion of Acute Stroke

Telemedicine for Optimized Collection of CLinical datA in Patients With Suspicion of Acute Stroke

Observational prospective single-center study on the discriminatory value of the Unassisted TeleStroke Scale for differentiation between patients with lacunar stroke and those with other acute stroke syndromes.

Assessment of stroke severity and differentiation between large-artery and small-artery stroke is pivotal for adequate treatment decision taking. Patients with small vessel stroke tend have a better prognosis than those with large artery disease. Further, patients with small artery infarction (lacunar stroke) have shown to respond well to treatment with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (IV rt-PA), but are poor candidates for endovascular recanalization. Conversely, IV rt-PA may be less effective at restoring perfusion of large artery occlusion, a stroke subtype that may benefit from intra-arterial thrombolysis or embolectomy. Similarly, patients with large intracerebral hemorrhage or cerebellar hemorrhage may require neurosurgical interventions, such as intracranial pressure monitoring, ventricular drainage, surgical evacuation, or hemicraniectomy.

The purpose of TeleCLASS is to evaluate the discriminatory value of the Unassisted TeleStroke Scale (UTSS) obtained through in-hospital telemedicine for differentiation between patients with lacunar stroke and those with other acute stroke syndromes (nonLACS).

Inclusion criteria:

• Age > 18 years
• Suspicion of acute stroke with symptom onset < 72 h before teleconsultation
• NIHSS score > 0
• Informed consent

Exclusion criterion:

• Patients for whom telestroke consultation would delay any diagnostic or therapeutic intervention