Interventional Neurology - Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center (Duluth, Building B)

Advanced Comprehensive Stroke Center

When having a stroke, minutes matter. As a nationally recognized stroke center, our team of specially trained physicians, advanced practitioners, and nurses deliver real-time, high quality stroke care. This comprehensive program offers advanced life-saving procedures to greatly improve patient outcomes. Visit our stroke care page to learn more. 

Stroke Patient Outcomes

Stroke Care You Can Count On: Stroke Perfect Care Report

At Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, we are committed to providing the best possible care for stroke patients. Our Perfect Care Report highlights patients who received complete, high-quality care by meeting every standard they qualified for. Below, we explain how we deliver life-saving stroke treatments and track our progress to ensure the best outcomes for our patients.

The Perfect Care (Stroke CDC/COV Defect Free Care) Report identifies patients that received perfect care or care for stroke patients without any gaps or errors. This graph shows the percentage of stroke patients who received the best possible care for every treatment or measure they were eligible for, without any missed steps or gaps in their care.

When someone has an ischemic stroke (caused by a blocked blood vessel), quick treatment is critical. One of the treatments we use is called mechanical endovascular reperfusion (MER), which helps restore blood flow to the brain. This chart shows how many patients received MER treatment and achieved good blood flow (* TICI 2B or higher) within 120 minutes of arriving at the hospital.

The sooner blood flow is restored, the better the chances of recovery. Ideally, this treatment should happen within 6 hours of stroke symptoms starting.

*TICI score: Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction Reperfusion Grade which measures restored blood flow to the brain. Scores range from 0-3 representing different degrees of blood flow restoration after a stroke treatment. Grade 2B indicates greater than 2/3rds of the affected area of the brain now has restored blood flow.

Delivering Life-Saving Stroke Treatment: Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center Ensures 100% Care for Eligible Patients

Endovascular reperfusion therapy in acute ischemic stroke comprises a number of pharmacological and mechanical procedures. Mechanical endovascular thrombectomy (a treatment option for patients with large vessel occlusions is intended to decrease tissue damage while broadening the population eligible for therapy. This procedure may be performed alone or in conjunction with IV or IA thrombolytic.

This Mechanical Endovascular Reperfusion Therapy for Eligible Patients with Ischemic Stroke chart shows the optimal results for restoring blood flow to the brain after a stroke causes blockage. More specifically, it shows the percentage of ischemic stroke patients who receive mechanical endovascular reperfusion (MER) therapy and achieve TICI 2B or higher within 120 minutes of hospital arrival.

The Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) Reperfusion Grade is used to measure cerebral reperfusion and should be achieved as early as possible, and within 6 hours of stroke onset. Reduced time for symptom onset to reperfusion with MER therapy is highly associated with better clinical outcomes.

This CSTK-08 Thrombolysis in Cerebral Infarction (TICI) chart also shows the optimal results for restoring blood flow to the brain after a stroke causes blockage. More specifically, it shows the percentage of patients that have a TICI score of 2B or greater after mechanical endovascular reperfusion therapy.

Reducing Risks During Stroke Treatment

We also monitor patients who receive MER therapy to ensure the treatment is safe and effective. This chart shows the percentage of patients who developed bleeding in the brain (symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage) more than 36 hours after treatment. MER therapy is designed to reduce the risk of large stroke progression by improving blood flow.

This CSTK-05 Hemorrhagic Transformation in Ischemic Stroke Patients chart shows the percentage of patients with brain bleeding after procedure to treat stroke. More specifically, the percentage shows the number of patients who had a hemorrhage after treatment, and a lower percentage means there were less patients that had complications.

Measuring Recovery After Stroke Treatment

We track recovery using the Modified Rankin Scale (mRS), which measures how much help a person needs with daily activities after a stroke. A lower score means better recovery and more independence. This chart shows the percentage of ischemic stroke patients treated with clot-busting medications or MER therapy who achieved a good recovery (mRS score of 2 or less) within 90 days.

To ensure accuracy, trained professionals use structured interviews to assess recovery. These interviews can be done in person or over the phone.

This CSTK-10 mRS at 90 Days - Favorable Outcome chart shows patient functional outcomes within 90 days.

Monitoring and Treating Severe Brain Bleeds

Some strokes involve bleeding in the brain, such as subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) or intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). These are medical emergencies that require quick diagnosis and treatment. We use severity scales to assess the patient’s condition:

• Hunt and Hess Scale: Used for SAH, this scale helps predict survival chances and guides treatment decisions.
• ICH Score: Used for ICH, this score helps predict survival chances and plan care.

Tracking these scores helps us provide personalized care and plan for the patient’s recovery with their family and care team.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) are medical emergencies requiring rapid diagnosis and assessment. The severity of SAHs should be documented with the Hunt and Hess Scale, and the severity of ICHs should be documented with ICH score to capture the clinical state of the patient, because it is a useful predictor of outcome and helpful in planning future care with family and care team. This Severity Measurement chart shows the percentage of appropriate testing for SAH (Hunt & Hess Scale) and ICH (ICH Score) patients combined.

This measure (CSTK-03) ensures that we are recording these scores because they are important for making treatment decisions. They are also a key part of providing high-quality care for patients with complex strokes.

Our Commitment to Stroke Care

At Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center, we are dedicated to improving outcomes for stroke patients. By tracking our progress and using proven tools to guide treatment, we ensure every patient receives the best care possible.