Background: The assessment of human and diagnostic resources is a prerequisite to improving the management of emergency neurology. Objective: To provide a landscape on the organization of the Lombardy Region hospitals for emergency neurological care management. Methods: We designed an anonymized questionnaire including 6 sections with 21 questions on facilities, human and diagnostic resources, and intra- and between-hospital connections. The time needed to fill the questionnaire was estimated not to exceed 6 min. Results: The questionnaire was returned by 33/41 (80.5%) hospitals, 22 classified as level 1 (spoke), and 11 as level 2 (hub). Five of 33 (15%) did not have a neurology unit. The mean annual rate of neurological consultations accounted for 5–6% of all admissions (range 2–8%) and did not differ between levels 1 and 2 hospitals. Neurologists were 24-h available in 21/33 (64%) hospitals, 12-h and on call at night in 6 (18%), less than 12 h without nocturnal availability in 5 (15%), and neither present nor available in 1 (3%). Brain CT and CSF examinations were 24-h universally available, whereas EEG and neurosonology were not in most hospitals. Despite angio-CT was 24-h available in more than 75% of the hospitals, only 45% of them had 24-h availability of diffusion/perfusion imaging, and 43% were not available at any time. Only 12% of the hospitals had 24-h availability of neuroradiologists and 6% of interventional neuroradiologists. Conclusion: Our data, while emphasizing current critical issues, offer clues for identifying priorities and improving the management of emergency and time-dependent neurological diseases.
Zanferrari, C., Salmaggi, A., Belcastro, V., Domina, E., Beretta, S., Braga, M., et al. (2022). A snapshot of emergency neurology management in the Lombardy Region, Italy. NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES, 43(8), 4917-4923 [10.1007/s10072-022-06062-3].
A snapshot of emergency neurology management in the Lombardy Region, Italy
Ferrarese C.Membro del Collaboration Group
;
2022
Abstract
Background: The assessment of human and diagnostic resources is a prerequisite to improving the management of emergency neurology. Objective: To provide a landscape on the organization of the Lombardy Region hospitals for emergency neurological care management. Methods: We designed an anonymized questionnaire including 6 sections with 21 questions on facilities, human and diagnostic resources, and intra- and between-hospital connections. The time needed to fill the questionnaire was estimated not to exceed 6 min. Results: The questionnaire was returned by 33/41 (80.5%) hospitals, 22 classified as level 1 (spoke), and 11 as level 2 (hub). Five of 33 (15%) did not have a neurology unit. The mean annual rate of neurological consultations accounted for 5–6% of all admissions (range 2–8%) and did not differ between levels 1 and 2 hospitals. Neurologists were 24-h available in 21/33 (64%) hospitals, 12-h and on call at night in 6 (18%), less than 12 h without nocturnal availability in 5 (15%), and neither present nor available in 1 (3%). Brain CT and CSF examinations were 24-h universally available, whereas EEG and neurosonology were not in most hospitals. Despite angio-CT was 24-h available in more than 75% of the hospitals, only 45% of them had 24-h availability of diffusion/perfusion imaging, and 43% were not available at any time. Only 12% of the hospitals had 24-h availability of neuroradiologists and 6% of interventional neuroradiologists. Conclusion: Our data, while emphasizing current critical issues, offer clues for identifying priorities and improving the management of emergency and time-dependent neurological diseases.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
