Telestroke activity across Europe; The results of a European Stroke Organization survey.

Introduction: Telestroke care is likely not inferior to face-to-face care in acute stroke management while it also provides rural sites with access to specialist expertise. However, little is known about the distribution and activity of telestroke networks across Europe. Consequently, the European Stroke Organization (ESO) Telestroke Committee aimed to address this through an online questionnaire. Methods: The questionnaire was developed through an unstructured consensus process, ratified by the ESO Executive Committee, and emailed to ESO members. Results: Of 2,147 ESO members contacted, complete data sets were submitted on 25 networks from 10 countries. Among the 25 networks, the mean number of hubs per network was 1.6 ( Conclusion: At 25 networks, this survey probably underrepresents telestroke activity across Europe, yet it is still the first study to provide a continent-wide geographical footprint and report on activity within the networks. There was considerable variability in network size and activity. Spoke sites reported an acceptable intervention rate of 12.3%. This percentage compares favorably with national data from European countries and suggests telestroke care supports reasonable intervention rates.