Early diffusion weighted MRI as a negative predictor for disabling stroke after ABCD2 score risk categorization in transient ischemic attack patients.

Background And Purpose: The prognostic value early diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWMRI) adds in the setting of transient ischemic attack (TIA), after risk stratification by a clinical score, is unclear. The purpose of this study is to evaluate, after ABCD2 score risk categorization in admitted TIA patients, whether negative DWMRI performed within 24 hours of symptom onset improves on the identification of patients at low risk for experiencing a disabling stroke within 90 days.

Methods: At 15 North Carolina hospitals, we enrolled a prospective nonconsecutive sample of admitted TIA patients.

A multicenter evaluation of the ABCD2 score's accuracy for predicting early ischemic stroke in admitted patients with transient ischemic attack.

Study Objective: We evaluate, in admitted patients with transient ischemic attack, the accuracy of the ABCD(2) (age [A], blood pressure [B], clinical features [weakness/speech disturbance] [C], transient ischemic attack duration [D], and diabetes history [D]) score in predicting ischemic stroke within 7 days.

Methods: At 16 North Carolina hospitals, we enrolled a prospective, nonconsecutive sample of admitted patients with transient ischemic attack and with no stroke history, presenting within 24 hours of transient ischemic attack symptom onset. We conducted a medical record review to determine ischemic stroke outcomes within 7 days.

A feasibility study of the sensitivity of emergency physician Dysphagia screening in acute stroke patients.

Study Objective: To determine the sensitivity of dysphagia screening by emergency physicians on acute stroke patients.

Methods: To develop a 2-tiered dysphagia screen and performed it on a convenience sample of acute stroke patients. Tier 1 examined voice quality, swallowing complaints, facial asymmetry, and aphasia.

Therapeutic yield and outcomes of a community teaching hospital code stroke protocol.

Objectives: To describe the experience of a community teaching hospital emergency department (ED) Code Stroke Protocol (CSP) for identifying acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients and treating them with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and to compare outcome measures with those achieved in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) trial.

Methods: This study was a retrospective review from a hospital CSP registry.

Results: Over a 56-month period, CSP activation occurred 255 times, with 24% (n = 60) of patients treated with intravenous (IV) tPA.