Key Performance Indicators

KPI 7b

Endovascular treatment presented as % of all admitted patients with ischaemic stroke.

Current status

In 2023, 14 countries met the KPI of providing MT to at least 7.5% of all patients with ischemic stroke based on high quality data, and 5 more based on lower quality data. MT improves functional outcome in large vessel occlusions (severe stroke) and is highly evidence based. Access to MT is very much dependent on organisation including seamless collaboration with the prehospital actors as well as stroke awareness in the population. Risk factor presentation and thereby stroke mechanisms vary between countries based on access to other treatments – e.g. oral anticoagulants in atrial fibrillation – as well as lifestyle. Therefore, some variation in proportion of patients that present with large vessel occlusion is to be expected. This does, however, not explain the large differences between European regions clearly showing inadequate access to MT in Eastern countries.

There remains significant inequity between countries that is not explained by differences in patient populations and focus should be on reducing this gap.