A study in the latest Medical Journal of Australia by Marion Simpson et al, is called, Thrombolysis for acute stroke in Australia: outcomes from the Safe Implementation of Thrombolysis in Stroke registry (2002-2008). (Medical Journal of Australia 2010;193;7:439-443).
Thrombolysis for acute stroke with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) is increasingly being used in metropolitan and regional hospitals. Randomised controlled trials have shown that rt-PA given within 3 hours of onset of stroke symptoms improves outcome with reduced disability at 3 months, "albeit with a small risk of serious harm, usually related to intracranial haemorrhage." This study compared Australian outcomes with those overseas and found that they are similar to those worldwide.
This week's Health Report on ABC's Radio National included an interview with one of the authors of the MJA paper, Chris Levi. His concern was that this treatment is "very effective but not available to all Australians as It's still only around 5% of stroke patients that come to our major metropolitan and major rural hospitals that are receiving tPA out of approximately 30% that would be eligible". He says the barriers are the workforce and training capabilities of our system.
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