22. European Stroke Conference 560 Acute stroke: emergency management, stroke units and complications Unassisted Telestroke Scale (UTSS): unassisted assessment of stroke severity through a tele-medicine 640 © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel Scientific Programme system R.R. van Hooff1, A. De Smedt2, S. De Raedt3, M. Moens4, P. Marien5, P. Paquier6, J. De Keyser7, R. Brouns8 Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Dept. of Neurology, Brussel, BELGIUM1, Universitair Ziek-enhuis Brussel, Dept. of Neurology, Brussel, BELGIUM2, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Dept. of Neurology, Brussel, BELGIUM3, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Brus-sel, BELGIUM4, ZNA Middelheim Ziekenhuis, Dept. of Neurology/Memory Clinic, Antwerpen, BELGIUM5, University Hospital Erasme, Dept. of Neurology and Neuropsychology, Brussel, BEL-GIUM6, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Dept. of Neurology, Brussel, BELGIUM7, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Dept. of Neurology, Brussel, BELGIUM8 Background— Quantification of stroke severity through telemedicine consultation is challenging and currently requires professional support at the patient’s bedside. We aimed to develop a novel stroke scale that can be obtained through telemedicine, even in a prehospital phase, without assis-tance from a third party. Methods—Firstly, we developed a telemedicine system dedicated to telestroke care, using a fourth generation mobile network. Secondly, we created the Unassisted Telestroke Scale (UTSS, Table 1). Thirdly, the reliability and validity of the scale were tested in inhospital patients with suspicion of acute ischemic stroke. Finally, we examined the feasibility and reliability of UTSS assessment through our telestroke technology in fast moving ambulances with the use of healthy volunteers mimicking stroke scenarios. Results— Using our system, both in- and prehospital telestroke consultation proved to be technical-ly feasible. The mean examination time for the UTSS was about 3 minutes. The intrarater and inter-rater variability, internal consistency and rater agreement were excellent. Adequate concurrent and predictive validity can be derived from the strong correlation between the UTSS and the NIHSS and the mRS score at 3 months, respectively. Conclusions—The UTSS is a rapid, reliable and valid tool for unassisted assessment of stroke sever-ity through telemedicine. Unassisted remote assessment of stroke severity in fast moving ambulanc-es using a system dedicated to prehospital telemedicine, 4G technology and the UTSS is feasible and reliable.
Karger_ESC London_2013
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