Clinical trial NCT00283868: Stroke Team Remote Evaluation Using a Digital Observation Camera
Official title: A Prospective Study to Evaluate the Efficacy of a Remote Digital Observation Camera Protocol in the Evaluation and Thrombolytic Treatment of Acute Stroke Patients in the Remote Hospital Setting
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Stroke
Keywords: stroke
digital video
SPOTRIAS
Lead sponsor: University of California, San Diego
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
First posted: 2006-01-30
Enrollment: 234
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Acute Stroke Patients

Brief summary: The purpose of this trial is to determine if an experimental remote video camera system is an effective way for a stroke specialist to evaluate stroke patients from a distant site.

Detailed description: The Stroke Team Remote Evaluation Using a Digital Observation Camera (STRokE DOC) system is a digital video camera system that can transfer video and audio images from the clinic or emergency room to a distant (remote) place where a stroke specialist can review the images in real time (as they happen). This system uses site independent software to access the camera system from multiple locations. The study will determine if video consultation is superior to telephone consultation for remote evaluation or treatment of stroke patients, and the usefulness of this system in evaluating patients with suspected stroke symptoms. However, this method is being used in other fields of medicine for assistance in medical evaluations.

Participants will be randomly assigned to receive evaluation by either the video camera system or by telephone alone. For those assigned to the video camera system, the system will be activated and will record and transmit video and audio images to a stroke specialist located at a remote location. He/she may ask the participants questions relating to medical illnesses and current symptoms, and may also review laboratory tests and x-ray images using a computer, if available. The stroke specialist will also perform general physical and neurological examinations, which will take place by video camera with the assistance of a bedside physician who will perform the actual examinations.

For those participants assigned to the telephone-only consultation, the video system will not be activated, but the same procedure as above will be followed except the stroke specialist will not be able to see the participants or examine them using the video camera system. Participation in the study will last for the entire time the participants are in the hospital. Participants will be contacted by telephone by a study nurse 3 months post-stroke for a 10-minute interview regarding their current health. The total duration for individual participation is 3 months.

The study is part of the Specialized Program of Translational Research in Acute Stroke (SPOTRIAS), which allows researchers to enhance and initiate translational research that ultimately will benefit stroke patients.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 18 years of age or older
* Symptoms consistent with acute stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic)
* Acute presentation of stroke symptoms, per bedside physician discretion (onset generally less than 12 hours and likely less than 3 hours)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Unlikely to complete study through 90-day follow-up

Primary outcomes:
measure: Appropriateness of Decision to Treat or Not Treat With Thrombolytics
timeFrame: potentially within 3 hours of symptom onset
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Percentage of Participants With Intracerebral Hemorrhage (ICH)
timeFrame: 36 hours
measure: Percentage of Total Thrombolytic Administrations
timeFrame: potentially within 3 hours of symptom onset
measure: Time to Treatment Decision for Administration of Thrombolytics
timeFrame: potentially within 3 hours of symptom onset
measure: Percentage of Evaluations With Technical Observations
timeFrame: Time of consultation
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Brawley
country: United States
facility: Pioneers Memorial Hospital
state: California
city: El Centro
country: United States
facility: El Centro Regional Medical Center
state: California
city: San Diego
country: United States
facility: University of California San Diego
state: California
city: San Luis Obispo
country: United States
facility: Twin Cities Community Hospital
state: California
Study officials:
affiliation: UCSD Stroke Center
name: Brett Meyer, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Meyer BC, Lyden PD, Al-Khoury L, Cheng Y, Raman R, Fellman R, Beer J, Rao R, Zivin JA. Prospective reliability of the STRokE DOC wireless/site independent telemedicine system. Neurology. 2005 Mar 22;64(6):1058-60. doi: 10.1212/01.WNL.0000154601.26653.E7.
citation: Crome O, Bahr M. Editorial comment--Remote evaluation of acute ischemic stroke: a reliable tool to extend tissue plasminogen activator use to community and rural stroke patients? Stroke. 2003 Oct;34(10):e191-2. doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000095163.28915.B9. Epub 2003 Sep 18. No abstract available.
citation: Patterson V. Teleneurology. J Telemed Telecare. 2005;11(2):55-9. doi: 10.1258/1357633053499840.
citation: LaMonte MP, Bahouth MN, Hu P, Pathan MY, Yarbrough KL, Gunawardane R, Crarey P, Page W. Telemedicine for acute stroke: triumphs and pitfalls. Stroke. 2003 Mar;34(3):725-8. doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000056945.36583.37. Epub 2003 Jan 30.
citation: Schwamm LH, Rosenthal ES, Hirshberg A, Schaefer PW, Little EA, Kvedar JC, Petkovska I, Koroshetz WJ, Levine SR. Virtual TeleStroke support for the emergency department evaluation of acute stroke. Acad Emerg Med. 2004 Nov;11(11):1193-7. doi: 10.1197/j.aem.2004.08.014.
citation: Audebert HJ, Kukla C, Clarmann von Claranau S, Kuhn J, Vatankhah B, Schenkel J, Ickenstein GW, Haberl RL, Horn M; TEMPiS Group. Telemedicine for safe and extended use of thrombolysis in stroke: the Telemedic Pilot Project for Integrative Stroke Care (TEMPiS) in Bavaria. Stroke. 2005 Feb;36(2):287-91. doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000153015.57892.66. Epub 2004 Dec 29.
citation: Wiborg A, Widder B; Telemedicine in Stroke in Swabia Project. Teleneurology to improve stroke care in rural areas: The Telemedicine in Stroke in Swabia (TESS) Project. Stroke. 2003 Dec;34(12):2951-6. doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000099125.30731.97. Epub 2003 Nov 20.
citation: Wang S, Gross H, Lee SB, Pardue C, Waller J, Nichols FT 3rd, Adams RJ, Hess DC. Remote evaluation of acute ischemic stroke in rural community hospitals in Georgia. Stroke. 2004 Jul;35(7):1763-8. doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000131858.63829.6e. Epub 2004 May 27.
citation: Demaerschalk BM, Raman R, Ernstrom K, Meyer BC. Efficacy of telemedicine for stroke: pooled analysis of the Stroke Team Remote Evaluation Using a Digital Observation Camera (STRokE DOC) and STRokE DOC Arizona telestroke trials. Telemed J E Health. 2012 Apr;18(3):230-7. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2011.0116. Epub 2012 Mar 8.
citation: Meyer BC, Raman R, Hemmen T, Obler R, Zivin JA, Rao R, Thomas RG, Lyden PD. Efficacy of site-independent telemedicine in the STRokE DOC trial: a randomised, blinded, prospective study. Lancet Neurol. 2008 Sep;7(9):787-95. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(08)70171-6.
citation: Meyer BC, Raman R, Chacon MR, Jensen M, Werner JD. Reliability of site-independent telemedicine when assessed by telemedicine-naive stroke practitioners. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2008 Jul-Aug;17(4):181-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2008.01.008.