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Mobile Stroke Units: Field Imaging and Triage for Acute Stroke Emergencies

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Management of Cerebrovascular Disorders

Abstract

Stroke is a pandemic affecting people of all populations and ages. In the past few decades, the global stroke burden has increased significantly worldwide especially between the years 1990 and 2013 (Feigin VL, Norrving B, George MG et al, Nat Rev Neurol 12(9):501–512, 2016). Currently available acute ischemic stroke (AIS) treatments are intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) and, in the case of emergent large vessel occlusion (ELVO), mechanical thrombectomy (MT) (The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke rt-PA Stroke Study Group, N Engl J Med 333(24):1581–1587, 1995; Berkhemer OA, Fransen PS, Beumer D et al, N Engl J Med 372(1):11–20, 2015; Goyal M, Demchuk AM, Menon BK et al, N Engl J Med 372(11):1019–1030, 2015; Campbell BC, Mitchell PJ, Kleinig TJ et al, N Engl J Med 372(11):1009–1018. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1414792, 2015; Saver JL, Goyal M, Bonafe A et al, N Engl J Med 372(24):2285–2295, 2015; Jovin TG, Chamorro A, Cobo E et al, N Engl J Med 372(24):2296–2306, 2015); however, few patients receive these time-dependent treatments. The concept of taking stroke care to the patient by deployment of mobile stroke units (MSU) is gaining momentum. In this chapter, we explore the use of AIS treatments, management of contributors to treatment delays, and the history and utility of MSUs to support acute stroke treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Anne W. Alexandrov, Nitin Goyal, Abhi Pandhi, Sarah McCormick, Andrei V. Alexandrov & Adam Arthur

  2. College of Nursing, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Anne W. Alexandrov

  3. Semmes-Murphy Neurologic and Spine Clinic, Memphis, TN, USA

    Adam Arthur

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  1. Anne W. Alexandrov
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  2. Nitin Goyal
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  3. Abhi Pandhi
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  4. Sarah McCormick
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  5. Andrei V. Alexandrov
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Correspondence to Adam Arthur .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Alejandro M. Spiotta

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Raymond D. Turner

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    M. Imran Chaudry

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Aquilla S. Turk

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Alexandrov, A.W., Goyal, N., Pandhi, A., McCormick, S., Alexandrov, A.V., Arthur, A. (2019). Mobile Stroke Units: Field Imaging and Triage for Acute Stroke Emergencies. In: Spiotta, A., Turner, R., Chaudry, M., Turk, A. (eds) Management of Cerebrovascular Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99016-3_35

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