The American Heart Association has announced a new initiative aimed at improving surgical outcomes for patients suffering from intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), a type of hemorrhagic stroke that, despite accounting for only 13% of all strokes in the U.S., is responsible for over 40% of stroke-related deaths. The Hemorrhagic Stroke Surgical Quality Improvement Initiative seeks to standardize and promote effective surgical approaches, including minimally invasive techniques like minimally invasive parafascicular surgery (MIPS), which has shown promise in improving recovery outcomes when performed within 24 hours of a brain bleed.
Supported by Stryker, the initiative will focus on identifying and scaling successful models of ICH care across fifteen selected hospitals in the U.S. These hospitals will participate in a learning collaborative, utilizing data from the American Heart Association's Get With The Guidelines® - Stroke registry to analyze care data and clinical workflows. The goal is to enhance access to surgical interventions that have been proven to improve patient recovery, thereby reducing the devastating outcomes associated with hemorrhagic strokes.
Dr. Kevin Sheth, a volunteer with the American Heart Association and chair of the Association’s ICH Science Advisory Group, emphasized the importance of sharing data and accelerating learning to improve stroke care. The initiative represents a significant step forward in addressing the lack of standardized surgical treatment protocols for ICH, offering hope for better recovery prospects for affected individuals.
For more information on the initiative, visit heart.org/ICHSurgical.
