Speedy finger-prick tests to diagnose strokes trialled in Cambridgeshire

Ambulance crews in Cambridgeshire are piloting the use of finger-prick blood tests to diagnose the deadliest form of stroke, with preliminary data suggesting they may be up to twice as effective as relying on patients’ symptoms alone.

The tests, which work on a similar principle to the lateral flow tests (LFTs) used to detect Covid, are designed to rapidly identify whether someone suspected of having a stroke has suffered a large vessel occlusion (LVO), where a blood clot blocks a major artery in the brain.

Although LVOs account for about a third of strokes, they are responsible for 95% of disabilities and deaths. However, a patient’s chances of recovery are markedly improved if they undergo a thrombectomy procedure to manually remove the clot within hours of symptom onset.

The problem is that there are only 24 hospitals in the UK that can provide thrombectomy treatment, and LVO is difficult to diagnose without a brain scan because many other conditions show similar symptoms.

Unless a patient is lucky enough to live near a specialist centre, they will usually be assessed at a general hospital and then transferred. According to national audit data from 2022-23, it takes an average of three hours or more from arriving at a first hospital to arriving at a thrombectomy centre.

“Early identification of LVO strokes by ambulance clinicians could offer opportunities for fast-tracking patients to thrombectomy-capable hospitals, avoiding delays to care when taken to other non-specialist hospitals,” said Larissa Prothero, an advanced research paramedic at the East of England ambulance service NHS trust (EEAST), which is involved in the feasibility study.

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Source: The Guardian, 9 March 2025