Pre-hospital delays and intravenous thrombolysis in urban and rural areas

Kozera G, Chwojnicki K, Gójska‐Grymajło A, Gąsecki D, Schminke U, Nyka WM. Pre‐hospital delays and intravenous thrombolysis in urban and rural areas. Acta Neurol Scand: 2012: 126: 171–177. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Introduction– It is crucial to understand the reasons behind pre‐ and in‐hospital delays to improve nationwide access to effective treatment for acute stroke. Aims– To evaluate the pre‐ and in‐hospital delays and to compare the intravenous (IV) thrombolysis rates in the urban and rural areas of the Province of Pomerania, Poland. Materials & methods– We evaluated the medical records of 2134 patients treated in the stroke units (SUs) and consecutively reported to the Pomeranian Stroke Register from June 2006–December 2007. Results– The time of ischaemic stroke onset was known in 488 (59%) of the 834 urban patients and in 744 (70%) of the 1063 rural patients (P 45 min was similar in both locations: urban, 314/488 (64.3%) vs rural, 490/744 (65.8%). Although the proportion of patients who reached the emergency room within 3 h was higher in the rural areas (29.0% vs 24.3%; P = 0.02), only 4.2% of these patients received IV thrombolysis compared with 23.1% in the urban areas (P