European Partnership on Transforming Health and Care Systems (EP THCS) JTC 2023: “MDRinAIS study: preliminary retrospective timing results

Background and Aims: The MDRinAIS study is an EU-funded initiative under the Horizon Europe Framework program. It aims to develop a telemedicine-enabled management pathway for patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to large vessel occlusion (LVO) requiring mechanical thrombectomy (MT). By bypassing traditional emergency department triage, this pathway seeks to reduce treatment delays and improve patient outcomes. The initial phase evaluates “drip and ship” treatment timings in three clinical centers across Europe.
Methods: This retrospective multicentric study includes AIS patients treated with the “drip and ship” protocol between January 2018 and December 2021 at three centers: Italy, Switzerland, and Spain. Timing metrics (in minutes) analyzed include admission-to-groin puncture (DTG), admission-to-fibrinolysis initiation (DTIF), fibrinolysis-to-hub arrival (DoF), and admission-to-hub groin puncture (DT). Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests.
Results: 572 patients were enrolled: 22.38% in Spain, 37.41% in Italy, and 40.21% in Switzerland. Significant differences in DTG, DT, DTIF, and DoF times were observed across centers (p<0.001). Italy’s DTG time (67.70 ± 42.02) and Switzerland (55.97 ± 104.5) differed significantly from Spain’s (96.92 ± 44.96; p = 0.0031). Similar differences were noted for DT, DTIF, and DoF times among the centers.