WSC 2026 | Faster access to thrombectomy: what neurologists at primary stroke centers can change tomorrow
Adnan Mujanovic, MD, PhD, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland, outlines how neurologists at primary stroke centers can get eligible patients to thrombectomy faster. Dr Mujanovic highlights better communication with nurses, paramedics and emergency staff, such as through morning meetings and designated roles. He also recommends simulation training and measuring key time points to identify areas for improvement. This interview took place at the 18th World Stroke Congress (WSC) in Seoul, Korea.
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Transcript
So one of the key points, what can we do to improve the communication between primary and tertiary or comprehensive stroke centers? So neurologists in the primary stroke center are very much familiar with the stroke pathology and the way it’s being recognized, the way it’s being diagnosed, and then they know what additional pathways they need to take to actually get the stroke patient to the comprehensive stroke center to get the intervention...
So one of the key points, what can we do to improve the communication between primary and tertiary or comprehensive stroke centers? So neurologists in the primary stroke center are very much familiar with the stroke pathology and the way it’s being recognized, the way it’s being diagnosed, and then they know what additional pathways they need to take to actually get the stroke patient to the comprehensive stroke center to get the intervention. What the neurologist at their institution could do is maybe try to communicate this with the other personnel, with the nurses, with the paramedics, with the emergency department in that hospital, try to improve the communication. And for this, I think there are a great myriad of opportunities. You can start by simulation training, or you can start by measuring time points until the patient comes into the primary stroke center, gets their first contact with the physician, gets their first suspicion of diagnosis, gets the confirmation, then leaves the primary stroke center. And then when you measure these time points, then you can also work on improving them. But I think what the neurologist at the primary stroke center, when you measure these time points then you can also work on improving them, but I think what the neurologist at the primary stroke center, the easiest thing which one can do is to simply have morning rounds meeting and say okay so let’s try to improve this and this or let’s try to communicate when the patient arrives or when the paramedics bring the patient to the center, who do they talk to, who is the designated nurse, who is the designated technician, so communication will actually help bridge this gap and this is not reinventing the wheel. These things exist, these things are prevalent in other hospitals, other institutions, so basically the only thing which we can improve and which is quite easy to improve is just to communicate and measure these time points and I think through training and simulation exercises we can start bridging this.
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