A a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that patients treated for stroke at designated stroke centres survive for longer than those treated at other hospitals.

Researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute followed all the patients admitted to a New York State hospital between 2005 and 2006 due to an ischaemic stroke.  Almost half of the 30,000 patients were treated at a designated stroke center, while the remainder received care at other hospitals.

The study found that, after one month of treatment, 10.1% of the patients treated at stroke centers had died, compared to 12.5% of those treated at other hospitals.  After one year, 22.3% of patients treated at stroke centers had died, compared to 26% of those treated at other hospitals.

Study author Dr Ying Xian said the findings should be motivation for more hospitals to make the improvements necessary to get certified as stroke centers, and for policy makers to promote the designation of more stroke centers across the US.

In the UK, simulation has been used to prove that by implementing stroke best practice pathways to become a certified stroke center, stroke deaths could be reduced by up to 18%.  Read the full case study