"Our mobile stroke unit allows us to bring the hospital to the patient," Czap said. "We can complete the necessary diagnostic testing and notify the hospital that we are coming, so that the appropriate teams can be ready. Streamlining this process allowed for one of our recent mobile stroke unit patients to complete treatment in under two hours from onset of symptoms. Going forward, identification of possible thrombectomy candidates on the unit can increase the accuracy of triage and increase the number of patients having the procedure, which we hope will lead to better patient outcomes."

The paper also shows an overall improvement in endovascular thrombectomy metrics for all patients regardless of how they arrived to the hospital. This is significant because the procedure just started to be recognized as standard management for select stroke patients within the last five years, Jagolino-Cole said.


This research is part of the ongoing BEST-MSU study, a prospective comparative effectiveness trial that investigates the benefits of stroke treatment delivered using a mobile stroke unit compared to standard management by emergency medical services. The primary outcomes are patients' functional status at 90 days and long-term health care utilization. The BEST-MSU study will complete enrollment in 2020.

Co-authors included Stephanie A. Parker, RN, BSN, program director for the Mobile Stroke Unit at UTHealth; and James Grotta, MD, director of stroke research at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and the vascular neurologist who led the effort to launch UTHealth's mobile stroke unit. Jagolino-Cole and Grotta are members of the UTHealth Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease.

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