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Cardiac Diagnostics and Monitoring
Multidisciplinary collaboration for long-term cardiac monitoring
A stroke pathway, or stroke protocol, is a consistent approach to a follow-up plan and transition of care for patients with an ischemic stroke. This implementation guide is intended to extend your acute stroke protocol to include a cardiac monitoring plan for cryptogenic, large-vessel, and small-vessel stroke patients. It includes monitoring for atrial fibrillation (AF) with the best monitoring mechanisms available to optimize outcomes.
After initial stroke discharge, many patients do not receive any additional cardiac monitoring. Establishing a monitoring pathway to detect and treat AF can significantly reduce a patient’s risk for another stroke.1 The ability to identify AF in patients with ischemic stroke has profound implications for long-term medical management.
Watch clinicians discuss best practices regarding establishing a stroke pathway.
Many ischemic stroke patients are lost to follow-up. Pathways for transition of care and follow-up help to ensure these patients receive better care.
A stroke pathway allows all healthcare professionals involved in the continuum to ensure a standard of care. Through this pathway, hospitals can:
Medtronic can assist your team in the planning and implementation of your stroke pathway. Request to be contacted by a local sales representative.
When developing the stroke pathway, it is important to include all stakeholders who care for the stroke patient, including:
Identifying a pathway champion to drive the initiative is critical to ensuring successful implementation.
It is ideal to have both neurology and cardiology champions and to bring together all stakeholders as a multidisciplinary team to discuss key aspects of the pathway, including:
It is essential to establish patient ownership, coordination of care, and a transition of care plan. The cardiac monitoring plan must be very clear at the onset and consistent throughout the continuum.
Education and communication is crucial to pathway implementation and ongoing success. Be sure to establish a plan and ownership for key pathway education and communication in your hospital.
Medtronic can help identify resources available to assist your team in pathway planning and implementation, as well as provide education on utilizing Medtronic ICMs for stroke.
These pathways are provided for educational purposes and should not be considered the exclusive source for this type of information. It is the responsibility of the practitioner to exercise independent clinical judgment.
Neurology and cardiology work collaboratively to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cryptogenic stroke patients.
Medtronic Disclosure Statement: This pathway is provided for educational purposes and should not be considered the exclusive source for this type of information. It is the responsibility of the practitioner to exercise independent clinical judgment.
Refer to the brief statement for indications, warnings/precautions, and complications for the Reveal LINQ™ ICM.
Tsvigoulis G, Katsanos AH, Mac Grory B, et al. Prolonged Cardiac Rhythm Monitoring and Secondary Stroke Prevention in Patients With Cryptogenic Cerebral Ischemia. Stroke. August 2019;50(8):2175–2180.