BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is an established measure of neurological impairment; however, it can award more points for tests of presumed left-hemisphere function, such as language, than for tests of right-hemisphere function, such as neglect. This difference may be important if a low NIHSS score is used to exclude patients with right-hemisphere...

Background and objectives In ischemic stroke therapies like thrombolytic and mechanical recanalisation can dramatically improve clinical outcome. So in initial hours from clinical examination we can select those patients who are candidates for such therapies. National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) Score is such handy tool to predict stroke outcome. Several studies report that a highe...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Early recanalization is the likely mechanism by which intravenous thrombolysis improves stroke outcomes. Limited data exist on the patterns of early recovery of various brain functions. METHODS Data from the Combined Lysis of Thrombus in Brain Ischemia Using Transcranial Ultrasound and Systemic t-PA (CLOTBUST) trial was used to determine time-related trends in neurologi...

Measuring Treatment Effect in Acute Stroke Trials To the Editor: We read with interest Bruno et al’s analysis of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score in the trial of Org 10172 in acute stroke treatment (TOAST). They found the dichotomous variable, NIHSS score 2 at 3 months, to be associated with “very favorable outcome” at 3 months, defined as both Glasgow Outcome Scale of 1...

BACKGROUND The NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is a 15-item measure of stroke-related neurologic deficits that, when measured at 24 h, is highly predictive of long-term functional outcome. We hypothesized that a simplified 24-h scale that incorporates the most predictive components of the NIHSS can retain prognostic accuracy and have improved interrater reliability. METHODS In a post hoc analysis of...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Stroke severity in cases of hyperacute carotid ischemic stroke may be related to site of arterial occlusion. We evaluated the relationships between National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores and findings on intra-arterial digital subtraction angiograms (IA-DSA) of patients with ischemic stroke within 6 hr of stroke onset. METHODS A total of 43 consecutive...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and the Canadian Neurological Scale (CNS) have been reported to be useful for the retrospective assessment of initial stroke severity. However, unlike the CNS, the NIHSS requires detailed neurological assessments that may not be reflected in all patient records, potentially limiting its applicability. We assessed the reliability of the retrosp...

BACKGROUND The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is considering developing a 30-day ischemic stroke hospital-level mortality model using administrative data. We examined whether inclusion of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), a measure of stroke severity not included in administrative data, would alter 30-day mortality rates in the Veterans Health Administration. ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Prehospital stroke scales should identify stroke patients and measure stroke severity. The goal of this study was to identify a subset of the 15 items in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS-15) that measures stroke severity and predicts outcomes. METHODS Using 2 distinct data sets from acute stroke clinical trials, we derived and validated shortened ve...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Early identification of stroke patients in need of rehabilitation or long-term nursing facility (NF) care may promote more efficient use of health care resources and lead to better outcomes. The NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is an attractive candidate predictor of disposition because it is widely used, is easily learned, and can be performed rapidly on admission. METHODS We ...