Description
Stroke should now be regarded as a medical emergency: a viewpoint supported by accumulating evidence. A major priority is the organisation of services for patients with acute stroke, a process involving general practitioners, primary care groups, paramedics, hospital physicians and indeed the patients themselves. Care in a stroke unit is highly cost effective and appropriate for most patients with acute stroke, reflecting co-ordinated multidisciplinary rehabilitation programmes and specialization of medical and nursing staff. Dedicated acute stroke units facilitate immediate delivery of care to stroke patients. The effect of aspirin appears small on an individual patient basis but its population effect is substantial. Thrombolysis within 3 hours of acute ischaemic stroke is very effective in a minority of highly-selected patients. The licensing of acute pharmacological interventions in the UK seems imminent.
