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Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS)
Availability
This instrument is freely available here: Los Angeles Motor Scale
Classification
Supplemental: Unruptured Cerebral Aneurysms and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH)
Short Description of Instrument

The LAMS is a 3-item stroke severity instrument designed for emergency department and prehospital use. It was developed with the use of the Los Angeles Prehospital Stroke Screen (LAPSS), where values were assigned to the items of facial weakness, arm strength and grip strength.

Comments
This is a validated, short, prehospital assessment of stroke symptoms, which is also applicable to SAH.
Scoring
The items are scored on a 0–5 point scale.  A score of 1 or 2 is a positive sign of stroke.
References
Llanes JN, Kidwell CS, Starkman S, Leary MC, Eckstein M, Saver JL. The Los Angeles Motor Scale (LAMS): a new measure to characterize stroke severity in the field. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2004;8(1):46-50.
 
Nazliel B, Starkman S, Liebeskind DS, Ovbiagele B, Kim D, Sanossian N, Ali L, Buck B, Villablanca P, Vinuela F, Duckwiler G, Jahan R, Saver JL. A brief prehospital stroke severity scale identifies ischemic stroke patients harboring persisting large arterial occlusions. Stroke. 2008;39(8):2264-2267.

 

Document last updated April 2020