Implementation of regional Acute Stroke Care Map increases thrombolysis rates for acute ischaemic stroke in Chinese urban area in only 3 months

Abstract

Background The rate of intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke remains low in China. We investigated whether the implementation of a citywide Acute Stroke Care Map (ASCaM) is associated with an improvement of acute stroke care quality in a Chinese urban area. Methods The ASCaM comprises 10 improvement strategies and has been implemented through a network consisting of 20 tertiary hospitals. We identified 7827 patients with ischaemic stroke admitted from April to October 2017, and 506 patients underwent thrombolysis were finally included for analysis. Results Compared with 'pre-ASCaM period', we observed an increased rate of administration of tissue plasminogen activator within 4...