Letter to the editor: Analysis of stroke patient migration for mechanical thrombectomy and changes in neurointerventional center size in Germany
AIM AND METHODS: To analyse nationwide changes in neurointerventional center size of all German hospitals performing mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in stroke patients from 2016 to 2019. Furthermore, we assessed cross-district patient migration for MT for the first time using hospitals' structured...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) Editorial |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
07 June 2021
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| In: |
Neurological research and practice
Year: 2021, Volume: 3, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-4 |
| ISSN: | 2524-3489 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s42466-021-00131-2 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1186/s42466-021-00131-2
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| Author Notes: | Ralph Weber, Dirk Bartig, Christos Krogias, Daniel Richter, Werner Hacke and Jens Eyding |
| Summary: | AIM AND METHODS: To analyse nationwide changes in neurointerventional center size of all German hospitals performing mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in stroke patients from 2016 to 2019. Furthermore, we assessed cross-district patient migration for MT for the first time using hospitals' structured quality reports and German Diagnosis-Related Groups data in 2019. FINDINGS: Number of hospitals performing more than 100 MT procedures/year doubled in Germany from 2016 (n = 36) to 2019 (n = 71), and these neurointerventional centers performed 71% of all MT procedures in 2019. The overall increase in MT procedures was largely driven by these high-volume neurointerventional centers with ability to perform MT 24/7 (121% increase as compared with 8% increase in hospitals performing less than 100 MT procedures/year). The highest cross-district patient mobility/transfer of stroke patients for MT was observed in districts adjacent to these high-volume neurointerventional centers with existing neurovascular networks. CONCLUSION: The substantial increase in MT procedures observed in Germany between 2016 and 2019 was almost exclusively delivered by high-volume stroke centers performing more than 100 MT procedures per year in established neurovascular networks. As there is still a reasonable number of districts with low MT rates, further structural improvement including implementation of new or expansion of existing neurovascular networks and regional tailored MT triage concepts is needed. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 09.06.2021 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2524-3489 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s42466-021-00131-2 |