Stroke clot retrieval from Taranaki, New Zealand: a real-world regional experience

AIM: Stroke clot retrieval (SCR) is now considered a standard of care for select stroke patients with proximal large vessel occlusion (LVO) of the anterior circulation. Here we present the experience of regional Taranaki patients transferred by air for SCR and compare this to metropolitan Auckland patients who were transferred by road. The aim is to present and compare process metrics and outcomes between the regional and metropolitan centres. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients with anterior LVO transferred to Auckland City Hospital (ACH) for SCR from Taranaki, Waitemata and Counties Manukau district health boards (DHBs) between November 2017 and December 2020. RESULTS: Thirty Taranaki patients were transferred for SCR, compared to 244 patients from Waitemata and Counties Manukau DHBs. Taranaki patients were seven years older and less ethnically diverse but similar in other characteristics. The proportion of patients with an independent Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score between 0 and 2 at three months was the same as for the regional and metropolitan centres. CONCLUSIONS: In this real-world study, regional stroke patients can achieve similar SCR outcomes to metropolitan patients. Overcoming the post-code lottery for hyperacute stroke care can be achieved in a New Zealand setting.

Automated summary

This study compares the process metrics and outcomes of patients transferred for stroke clot retrieval (SCR) from regional and metropolitan areas to Auckland City Hospital. The results indicate that regional patients can achieve similar SCR outcomes to metropolitan patients.