GWTG

Get with the Guidelines (GWTG) – Stroke Patient Registry Use in Primary and Comprehensive Designated Stroke Centers during COVID-19 Pandemic

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This year many of the professional conferences that traditionally took place live have had to change to virtual mode due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and its related social distancing rules.  The International Stroke Conference and Nursing Symposium was no exception. Yet it presented an excellent opportunity for many to attend, especially those who could … Read more

Transformation of the GWTG – Stroke Patient Registry to into a National Representative Database of Acute Ischemic Strokes (AIS) in the U.S.

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Stroke remains a leading cause of death and disability in the United States.1  Approximately 800,000 people in the United States have a stroke every year.1  Eighty percent of all strokes can be prevented by screening for and treating known risk factors (hypertension, tobacco smoking, and atrial fibrillation).2 Recurrent strokes can also be prevented with proper … Read more

The Sweet Spot in Treatment of Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction: SGLT2 Inhibitors

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I am pleased to have the opportunity to summarize an important recent paper on the use of sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors by Drs. Muthiah Vaduganathan, Gregg Fonarow, and colleagues in JAMA Cardiology,1 that was published simultaneously with AHA20. Background: SGLT2 inhibitors are a class of medications that were initially developed for management of diabetes … Read more

The Clock is Ticking: Door-to-Needle Time in Acute Ischemic Stroke

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Lay of the Land In 2008, after years of being the third-leading cause of death in the United States, stroke dropped to fourth. In part, this reflected the results of a commitment made by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA) more than a decade prior to reduce stroke, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular risk … Read more

Another (Louder) Call to Improve the Care We Provide Heart Failure Patients

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I am always taken aback when I recommend a switch to sacubitril/valsartan in a patient with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) and the response is “my patient feels fine”. This is a common response and certainly not a good enough reason to not optimize guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT) in patients with HFrEF. … Read more