Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations awards UCLA with coveted certification

The UCLA Stroke Center announced March 29 that the national Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has designated its program as a certified Primary Stroke Center — making UCLA the first medical center in Los Angeles County to earn this prestigious certification.

“The UCLA Stroke Center has long been recognized as one of the leading centers in the world for stroke care and research and the JCAHO designation helps confirm this status,” said Dr. David Liebeskind, assistant professor of neurology and UCLA Stroke Center faculty member.

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is the same national organization that accredits hospitals. Their “seal of approval” certifies that the UCLA Stroke Center offers the highest quality of care and follows national guidelines that can significantly improve outcomes for stroke patients.

A center without walls, the UCLA Stroke Center was founded in 1994. To convey the urgency and severity of a stroke, its members are known as the “Brain Attack” team, and include experts from emergency medicine, stroke neurology, interventional neuroradiology, vascular neurosurgery and neurorehabilitation who mobilize quickly to respond to diagnose each stroke case and coordinate rapid delivery of proven treatments.

Among the UCLA Stroke Center’s pioneering efforts to improve and advance stroke care:

• UCLA physicians developed and patented the first device to treat acute ischemic stroke, called the Mechanical Embolus Removal in Cerebral Ischemia Retriever. The corkscrew-like device — cleared by the Federal Drug Administration in 2004 — allows doctors to mechanically remove stroke-causing clots from the patient’s brain. In some cases, patients have experienced a dramatic complete reversal of stroke, but only when performed in the first minutes to eight hours from stroke onset.

• Led by Dr. Guido Guglielmi, the UCLA Stroke Center developed the Guglielmi Detachable Coil, the first product to receive FDA approval for the treatment of patients with intracranial aneurysms considered to be inoperable or very high risk for surgery and now widely used. The technology offers hope for patients who risk losing their lives if the aneurysm ruptures and causes a stroke.

• UCLA’s Stroke Center is among five centers nationwide to receive a Specialized Program of Translational Research in Acute Stroke grant from the National Institutes of Health to study promising new therapies for stroke.

• The UCLA Stroke Center spearheads a pivotal, multi-hospital clinical trial effort in Los Angeles of a new therapy for acute stroke. The Field Administration of Stroke Therapy-Magnesium trial examines whether magnesium sulfate can protect the threatened brain when administered to stroke victims by 9-1-1 ambulance-arriving paramedics within the first two hours of stroke onset.

• The UCLA Stroke Center was a leader in developing stroke recognition methods for paramedics who are often on the front lines responding to stroke victims and whose early diagnosis can help in early treatment. The Los Angeles Prehospital Stroke Screen was the first validated stroke identification instrument specifically designed for paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

• The UCLA Stroke Center is a leader in developing novel surgical therapies for stroke, including a current study funded by the NIH of a minimally invasive neurosurgical technique to remove blood from the brain in patients who have had a hemorrhagic stroke.

• The UCLA Stroke Center’s neurorehabilitation team leads a nationwide trial of a new body-weight-supported treadmill training therapy to restore walking after stroke.

• The UCLA Stroke Center opened one of the nation’s first dedicated inpatient stroke units offering state-of-the-art management of patients with brain infarction, brain hemorrhage and other cerebral vascular diseases. Other on-site facilities include a neurological intensive care unit, neurosurgical operating rooms, neuro-endovascular therapy suites, a clinical cerebral blood flow laboratory, stereotactic radiology rooms and an outpatient clinic.

Acute stroke is a common and devastating disorder, the third leading cause of death, and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States. Every year, more than 750,000 Americans experience a stroke, and one-third of them are under the age of 65. These numbers are projected to increase dramatically, doubling in the next 50 years.

“Our team is confident that strides made at UCLA over the next few years will revolutionize the treatment of stroke patients,” said Dr. Jeffrey Saver, professor of neurology, and director of the UCLA Stroke Center. “However, the key element to receiving the best care possible still relies on the stroke patient recognizing that they are having a stroke, seeking medical attention as soon as possible and asking to be transported to the nearest primary stroke center.”

A stroke, or “brain attack,” occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted by a blood clot or a broken blood vessel. This lack of oxygen kills brain cells in the immediate area, often
causing physical and emotional disabilities including speech problems, memory loss and paralysis.

“Many stroke patients could suffer less brain injury if treated within the crucial ‘window of opportunity’ — the first few hours of stroke onset,” added Dr. Fernando Vinuela, professor and director of interventional neuroradiology. “Our motto is ‘time is brain.’”

Here is some information that is important for everyone to know. The UCLA Stroke Center team encourages people to talk about this with family, friends and neighbors too.

Stroke symptoms:

• Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body (most common).
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
• Sudden trouble walking, loss of balance or coordination.

Call 9-1-1 immediately if any of these signs are present.