Dr Alexandros Rentzos is an Interventional Neuroradiologist at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, the largest hospital in Sweden. He received his medical degree from Charles University in Prague, and completed his Neuroradiology and Interventional Neuroradiology fellowship in Gothenburg, along with a Ph.D. thesis focused on endovascular stroke treatment from Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University. He is an active researcher in the field of diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology, particularly endovascular stroke treatment, but also in aneurysm and cerebral vascular malformation treatment.
"Our Interventional Neuroradiology team have been performing endovascular stroke treatment since 1991 (first mechanical embolectomy performed in 1994) with increasing numbers that reached 330 cases last year. Over the past ten years, our team, together with the Stroke and Neuroanaesthesiology teams, have worked to develop a faster and more efficient workflow, resulting in a door-to-groin-puncture time of 30 minutes, and a puncture-to-recanalization time of 28 minutes in 2021.
The expansion of the thrombectomy window to 24 hours, and the increased use of advanced neuroradiological examinations such as CT Perfusion, present new challenges for our referral network, where radiological expertise is not available 24/7 for accurate and quick reporting of the advanced imaging. And even when it is available, the competence may vary widely. This leads to significant delays in reporting, decision making and transportation at the referring hospitals connected to Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
Our goal is to increase the consistency of the radiology reporting while keeping the intra- and inter-hospital delays as short as possible during all working hours, irrespective of the individual physician's and radiologist's competence in the referring hospitals. This goal is in accordance with our regional, but also national goal, to provide equal care to all inhabitants regardless of the distance and to which hospital they initially present. For that reason, we partnered with Brainomix and deployed their e-Stroke imaging solution across the region, to provide a decision-making tool that will increase our network's consistency to identify all possible thrombectomy candidates without delays."
Riaz Rahman, VP Healthcare Global at Brainomix, commented: "We are delighted to be selected, after a highly competitive EU tender process, as the long-term AI system of choice for Region Västra Götaland. This multi-year, multi-site project covers 10 stroke centers and represents a flagship collaboration in the Nordic region.
With e-Stroke now fully operational and live across all sites, we are working closely with Dr. Rentzos and the clinical teams across the region to optimize the referral pathways for patient treatment. With multiple product enhancements well under way to maintain our position as the leading stroke AI vendor in Europe, this collaboration will further enhance the value our platform brings to frontline stroke clinicians, and opens up new vistas for clinical research in stroke."