Diagnosis and treatment of patients with stroke in a mobile stroke unit versus in hospital: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Only 2-5% of patients who have a stroke receive thrombolytic treatment, mainly because of delay in reaching the hospital. We aimed to assess the efficacy of a new approach of diagnosis and treatment starting at the emergency site, rather than after hospital arrival, in reducing delay in stroke therapy.

Methods: We did a randomised single-centre controlled trial to compare the time from alarm (emergency call) to therapy decision between mobile stroke unit (MSU) and hospital intervention.