Emergency Brain Resuscitation

Abstract

Past efforts to reverse or limit the effects of acute stroke have been largely unsuccessful, in part because of the inability to evaluate and treat most patients soon after stroke onset.One important factor in the delay of treatment has been the nihilistic attitude of medical personnel, including physicians, toward the need to rapidly evaluate and treat patients with stroke. This is important for non-neurologists because most patients with stroke are cared for by internists, family physicians, and emergency physicians. We present the concept of emergency brain resuscitation as one method of galvanizing and motivating health professionals to take a more proactive and aggressive approach to treating the patient with acute stroke. Laboratory and clinical data support the potential efficacy of emergency brain resuscitation teams, which will use standard and experimental techniques to treat patients with stroke. A cost–benefit analysis suggests that emergency brain resuscitation may lower the costs associated with stroke by reducing length of hospital stay, disability, and lost wages. The formation of pilot programs is a logical first step toward evaluating and refining this concept.

*For a listing of members of A Working Group on Emergency Brain Resuscitation, see the Appendix.