Kass-Hout T, Lee J, Tataris K, et al. - In acute ischemic stroke (AIS) with large vessel occlusion (LVO), improved functional outcomes are obtained in correlation with endovascular therapy (EVT). Researchers herein identified a significant increase in EVT rates in patients with acute ischemic stroke and large vessel occlusion in correlation with implementation of a regional prehospital transport policy for comprehensive stroke center triage.

• This is a retrospective, multicenter preimplementation-postimplementation study including a total of 663 patients who arrived at the hospital within 6 hours of onset of acute ischemic stroke.

• An interrupted time series analysis was used to compare treatment rates before and after implementation in patients with AIS.

• Findings revealed a significant, rapid, and sustained increase in EVT rate for patients with AIS in correlation with implementation of a prehospital transport policy for comprehensive stroke center triage in Chicago, without deleterious associations with thrombolysis rates or times.