Impact of Clinical Trial Enrollment on Thrombolysis Workflow in a Mobile Stroke Unit: Results from the AcT Trial

BACKGROUND: The Edmonton-based mobile stroke unit (MSU), which transports patients to the University of Alberta Hospital (UAH), enrolled patients in the Intravenous Tenecteplase Compared with Alteplase for Acute Ischemic Stroke (AcT) trial. We examined the feasibility of trial enrollment in MSU, its impact on acute stroke workflow metrics and functional outcomes at 90-120 days. METHODS: In this post hoc analysis, patients were divided into three groups based on enrollment site: MSU (n = 43), UAH (n = 273) and non-UAH (n = 1261). All patients were enrolled with a deferred consent process. The primary outcome for this analysis was the feasibility of enrollment defined as the proportion of patients receiving intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) during the study period who were enrolled in the trial. Multiple linear and binary logistic regression was used to evaluate the adjusted effect of the study groups on acute stroke workflow metrics and functional outcomes at 90-120 days. RESULTS: 100% of eligible IVT-treated patients in the MSU during the study period were enrolled in the AcT trial. Covariate-adjusted linear regression showed shorter door-to-needle (17.2 [9.7-24.6] min) and CT-to-needle (10.7 [4.2-17.1] min) times in the MSU compared to UAH and non-UAH sites. There was no difference in the proportion of patients with an excellent functional outcome (mRS 0-1) at 90-120 days or symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) at 24 hours between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Enrollment in the AcT trial from the MSU was feasible. MSU-enrolled patients demonstrated faster door-to-needle and CT-to-needle times, resulting in earlier IVT administration and similar rates of symptomatic ICH.