Patients with
acute ischemic stroke (AIS) require immediate attention and
stroke expertise, which is rarely offered by community hospitals. Telestroke networks were originally established for delivering thrombolysis to inhabitants of underserved regions where
stroke expertise was not available 24/7. Rapidly expanding experience addresses the fact that thrombolysis, when given using telestroke consultation, is as safe and effective as when it is given in a
stroke center. Telestroke, without a doubt, increases the number of patients receiving thrombolysis, and thus improves patient outcomes, but additionally these networks together with a comprehensive organization of
acute stroke care could bring many other benefits which so far are heavily underused in neurology. These benefits include: shortening
hospital stay of patients through advanced care, avoiding a large number of unnecessary
patient transfers, identifying specific
stroke patients who require urgent interventions or surgery (such as
subarachnoid hemorrhage, intraventricular
hemorrhage, candidates for
craniectomy, or basilar artery occlusion), leading to establishment of
stroke units and
stroke teams in spoke hospitals and overall improvement of
stroke care in spoke hospitals, early diagnosis and proper treatment of
stroke and nonstroke patients. Further benefits may be: to facilitate staff recruitment to spoke hospitals, to deliver expertise to developing countries, participation of spoke hospitals to
acute stroke treatment trials and
stroke prevention trials, and environmental effects. The magnitude of these benefits will become more obvious in the near future because this exciting field is progressing fast. The Finnish experience suggests that telestroke is a versatile tool for improving
acute stroke care of inhabitants in underserved regions and it should be made more widely available.