Leading opinion
Daily National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale examinations at stroke centers: why not do them?
James E. Siegler,
Sheryl Martin-Schild,
James E. Siegler
Stroke Program, Department of Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 70112 USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sheryl Martin-Schild
Stroke Program, Department of Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 70112 USA
Correspondence: Sheryl Martin-Schild, Stroke Program, Department of Neurology, 1415 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJames E. Siegler,
Sheryl Martin-Schild,
James E. Siegler
Stroke Program, Department of Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 70112 USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Sheryl Martin-Schild
Stroke Program, Department of Neurology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, 70112 USA
Correspondence: Sheryl Martin-Schild, Stroke Program, Department of Neurology, 1415 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA.
E-mail: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 19 January 2015
Conflict of Interest: None.
Abstract
The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was originally designed to stratify patients according to stroke severity for clinical trials, and now it is used to predict disposition and prognosticate functional outcome. Many researchers have also adopted it to trend patient progress over time and detect early neurologic deterioration. However, few investigators have reported its utility in monitoring the daily progress of patients hospitalized for stroke. In the present article, the authors discuss the advantages of daily National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale assessments and our clinical experience with this invaluable tool.
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