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Patients who experienced ischemic stroke (IS) who were admitted to hospitals with designated stroke centers were less likely to die than those who were not, according to new research.

The study found that ischemic stroke patients fared better and had less chance of dying at 30 days follow up if admitted to one of the nearly 700 acute care hospitals in the U.S. that are designated by the Joint Commission as stroke centers, based on recommendations from a team of physicians and researchers comprising the Brain Attack Coalition (BAC).

Researchers from Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, NC, led by Ying Xian, MD, found that among patients with acute ischemic stroke, 49 percent (15,297) were admitted to commissioned stroke centers, and 51 percent were admitted to non-designated hospitals. The overall 30-day mortality rate (attributable to all causes) was 10.1 percent for stroke-center patients and 12.5 percent for patients admitted to nondesignated hospitals.

Patients admitted to stroke center hospital was associated with a 2.5 percent absolute reduction in 30-day all-cause mortality.

Blood-clot dissolving therapy (thrombolytic therapy) was administered for 4.8 percent for patients admitted at designated stroke centers and 1.7 percent for patients admitted at nondesignated hospitals.

Researchers concluded the BAC-recommended stroke system of care appeared to be associated with improvement in some outcomes for patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and the first-leading cause of disability.