Acute telestroke in France: A systematic review

Acute telestroke is the use of telemedicine to improve acute stroke care. It has demonstrated to be a safe and effective medical practice. Since 2011, acute telestroke has been promoted by the Ministry of Health in France, and in 2018 many regions were in the process or completion of implementing telestroke. The objective of this study was to describe acute telestroke implementation in France.

A systematic review was conducted using PubMed and ScienceDirect databases. Articles and abstracts in English and French, published between January 1st, 2000 to April 30th, 2018 were used. Studies conducted in France and that had presented an outcome evaluation of a regional acute telestroke activity were included. No meta-analysis was conducted.

A total of 24 studies (14 in French, 10 in English) were included, with 13 published articles (7 indexed on PubMed) and 11 abstracts. Among the 13 published articles, there were seven observational retrospective studies, one quasi-experimental before-after study, one experimental randomised controlled trial, and four medico-economic studies. All telestroke network models of care were drip-and-ship with hub and spoke organisation. The case-control studies did not show a difference with or without telemedicine. The territorial thrombolysis rate was measured in two regions, with an increase in Franche-Comté from 0.2% (2004) to 9.9% (2015), and a relative increase of 76% in Nord-Pas-de-Calais between 2009-2010 and 2012.

Implementation of acute telestroke in France had a positive clinical and public health impact but the evaluation remained limited and needs to be supported.