The Coming Year in Stroke: a Busy Schedule for 2010

I have just returned from the International Stroke Congress in the US at the time of writing this and the meeting was of its usual high standard. This year, included in the activities was an event of particular interest, the 40^th Anniversary ‘synergium’ conducted by the outgoing Editor of Stroke, Vladimir Hachinski.

The ‘synergium’ meeting was a think tank of global experts synthesizing progress in stroke over the last 40 years and setting down new directions. The results of their deliberations will be published conjointly in a number of leading stroke journals.

In future years it will be interesting to look back on these deliberations and assess whether the strategies outlined have been successfully implemented.

The usefulness of exercises such as this cannot be underestimated; the opportunity to work together and think outside the square has a chance to develop ideas for new directions in research.

The presentation of the CREST results (the protocol which we published in the International Journal of Stroke 5:1, 2010; 40–46) there are similar risks and benefits during the perioperative period for both carotid endarterectomy and angioplasty. This will need to be put into the context of other similar trials as angioplasty gradually makes inroads into endarterectomy practice.

In this edition we also publish the Northern Manhattan Study where the authors nicely demonstrate that metabolic syndrome increases carotid artery stiffness; the implications for this and our greater understanding of the effects of the metabolic syndrome on cerebrovascular disease are now emerging.

Obviously, an early marker of arterial disease such as carotid artery stiffness suggests that early intervention may ultimately prove useful. Perhaps related to this is the consensus statement on the ‘Management of Cholesterol in Stroke to Reduce the Burden of Stroke in Asia by Hankey et al.’

The IJS commitment to stroke education continues with a further submission from our Education Section Editor, Michael Brainin. He outlines the discrepancies among factors influencing prehospital delay and stroke knowledge.

We also continue to emphasize importance of the publication of protocols with the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (AuSCAR) and The Intracerebral Hemorrhage Acutely Decreasing Arterial Pressure Trial (ICH ADAPT) – the latter nicely links with the INTERACT 2 protocol published by Craig Anderson in our most recent edition (you can now download an IJS podcast either via iTunes or our website of an interview with Professor Anderson discussing INTERACT 2 trial).

I well remember the first ESC held in Dusseldorf, Germany, co-chaired by Michael Hennerici and Julien Bogousslavsky. The enthusiasm generated by a group of then young strokeologists was infectious. This year is the 20^th ESC and it will be held in Barcelona in the coming weeks; followed later this year in October by the 8^th World Stroke Congress in Korea; for those interested in stroke the program is both busy and exciting. I look forward to seeing you there!