Rapid finger-prick tests to detect strokes being trialled

A finger-prick blood test to diagnose the deadliest form of stroke might be twice as effective at spotting it than using a patient's symptoms alone.

- REBECCA WHITTAKER

The test, which works similarly to a lateral flow test used to detect Covid, is being piloted by ambulance crews in Cambridgeshire. The blood tests have been designed to detect if someone has suffered a large vessel occlusion (LVO), where a blood clot blocks a major artery in the brain.

This type of blood clot is responsible for about a third of strokes but causes about 95 per cent of disabilities and deaths. A stroke is a very serious condition where the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off, and every minute a stroke is left untreated an estimated 1.9 million brain cells die, increasing the risk of serious long-term disability and death, according to the Stroke Association.

However, speedy treatment for a stroke can dramatically increase a patient’s chances of recovery. This includes a thrombectomy procedure to remove the blood clot within a few hours of any symptoms appearing. But only 24 hospitals in the UK can provide thrombectomy treatment, and LVO is tricky to diagnose without a brain scan because it has similar symptoms to other conditions.