Description

This program focuses on administering urgent treatment with intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (IV tPA), which has been shown to improve outcomes in patients with ischemic stroke if administered within three hours from the onset of symptoms.

Despite its efficacy, 69% of hospitals in the United States do not use thrombolytic therapy and only about one percent of stroke patients receive it, mostly at hospitals with a high volume of stroke patients.  Concerns by clinicians regarding the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage and liability exposure are among the contributing factors to the under use of tPA, underscoring the need for continuing education to assist clinicians in developing sound stroke-related diagnostic skills.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this educational activity, participants should be able to:

  • Recognize the clinical signs and symptoms of hemorrhagic versus ischemic CNS stroke and the conditions that mimic them.
  • Express the basic competencies of stroke evaluation by using the NIH Stroke Scale and appropriately initiating intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA).

Target Audience

Emergency medicine; Family medicine; Internal medicine; critical care nurses, staff nurses, and other professionals who work to prevent and treat stroke

Faculty

  • Lee H Schwamm, MD
    Vice Chairman, Department of Neurology
    Director, TeleStroke & Acute Stroke Services
  • Anand Viswanathan, MD, PhD
    MD, PhD, Emory University Residency, Brigham and Women's Hospital Fellowship, Hopital Lariboisiere Fellowship, Massachusetts General Hospital

CME Information

Accreditation
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of McLean Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital Academy and Reed Medical Education. McLean Hospital is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians.

Credit Designation
McLean Hospital designates this continuing medical educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits(TM). Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Policy on Faculty and Provider Disclosure
It is the policy of McLean Hospital that faculty and providers disclose real or apparent conflicts of interest relating to the topics of this educational activity, and also disclose discussions of unlabeled/unapproved uses of drugs or devices during their presentation(s). McLean Hospital has established policies in place that identify and resolve all conflicts of interest prior to this educational activity.

Planners

The following planners of this activity have indicated that neither they nor their families have a significant financial interest or affiliation with the manufacturer of any commercial products or provider of commercial services:

Robert J. Birnbaum, MD, PhD: Planner

John A. Fromson, MD: Planner, reviewer

Anan Nathif, EdM: Planner

Tristan Gorrindo, MD: Planner

Hardware/Software Specifications: 

This internet-based CME activity is best experienced using Internet Explorer 8+, Mozilla Firefox 3+, Safari 4+. This Web site requires that JavaScript and session cookies be enabled. Certain activities may require additional software to view multimedia, presentation, or printable versions of the content. These activities will be marked as such and will provide links to the required software. That software may be: Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Windows Media Player.

Optimal System Configuration:
Flash Player: Adobe Flash Player 10.1+
Browser: Firefox 3+, Internet Explorer 8.0+, Safari 4.0+, or Google Chrome 7.0+
Operating System: Windows XP+ or Mac OS X 10.4+
Internet Connection: 1 Mbps or higher

Minimum Requirements:
Windows PC:
500-MHz Pentium II; Windows XP or higher; 128 MB RAM; Video Card at least 64MB of video memory; Sound Card at least 16-bit; Macromedia Flash Player 10 or higher, audio playback with speakers for programs with video content; Firefox 1.1+, Internet Explorer 7.0+, Safari 1.0+, Google Chrome, or Opera
Macintosh:
Mac OS X 10.3 or higher with latest updates installed; 1.83MHz Intel Core Duo or faster; RAM: 128MB or more; Video Card: at least 64MB of video memory; Sound Card: at least 16-bit

Speakers

 

The following speakers and/or planners have reported receiving something of value from a company whose product may be germane to the content of their presentations:

Lee H Schwamm, MD

Dr. Schwamm has nothing to disclose.

Last updated: 4/10/2010

Anand Viswanathan, MD, PhD

Supporters

Location

online