Transfer of Patients in a Telestroke Network: What Are the Relevant Factors for Making This Decision?

Background/Introduction: Current telestroke network consultations are focused on decision-making in the hyperacute stage of stroke management. The two main questions in telestroke consultations are whether thrombolysis should be initiated and whether the patient should be transferred to a hub hospital. Although guidelines exist for initiating intravenous thrombolytic therapy, the question of whether patients should be transferred is far more elusive.

In this study, we investigated the factors involved in the decision to transfer stroke patients to a hub hospital. We were particularly interested in identifying factors that promote or impede the transfer of patients. We enrolled 1,615 cases of telestroke consultation of the University Hospital Jena.

The two main factors that independently influenced the probability of transferring a patient were the patient's age and the identification of a proximal vessel occlusion. Interestingly, factors such as the severity of symptoms and the time elapsed from symptom onset were not found to have an independent influence on the decision to transfer a patient. The transfer of most patients was justified by the possibility of performing interventional reperfusion therapy.

We discuss the effectiveness of the current decision-making process and possible ways to improve decision-making for a more effective selection of patients who would benefit from transfer.

The decision-making process to a transfer patient is not standardized and constitutes a trade-off between the intention to treat all possible patients while avoiding the transfer of patients without treatment options.