title: Mobile stroke unit for diagnosis-based triage of persons with suspected stroke.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In this feasibility study, we tested whether prehospital diagnostic stroke workup enables rational decision-making regarding treatment and the target hospital in persons with suspected stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  A mobile stroke unit that delivers imaging (including multimodal brain imaging with CT angiography and CT perfusion), point-of-care-laboratory analysis, and neurologic expertise directly at the emergency site was analyzed for its use in prehospital diagnosis-based triage of suspected stroke patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We present 4 complementary cases with suspected stroke who underwent prehospital diagnostic workup that enabled direct diagnosis-based treatment decisions and reliable triage regarding the most appropriate medical facility for that individual, e.g., a primary hospital vs specialized centers of a tertiary hospital.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This preliminary report demonstrates the feasibility of prehospital diagnostic stroke workup for immediate etiology-specific decision-making regarding the necessary time-sensitive stroke treatment and the most appropriate target hospital.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neurology, Saarland University Hospital, Saarland, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kostopoulos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Walter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haass
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Papanagiotou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Körner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alexandrou
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Viera
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dabew
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kubulus
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grunwald
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlechtriemen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Reith
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fassbender
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008952:Mobile Health Units / Q000592:standards*; D055420:Perfusion Imaging; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014218:Triage / Q000592:standards*