May 8, 2018
The Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE) and its members from 30 European countries are committed to raising awareness of stroke
Brussels, 8th May 2018- This May, SAFE and its members have many activities to be proud of. We have managed to successfully complete a joint project with the European Stroke Organisation (ESO), the Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018-2030.
The project will first be presented to the medical world at this year’s European Stroke Congress in Gothenburg, Sweden on Thursday, 17 May 2018.
After that, the main recommendations in the Stroke Action Plan will be launched to politicians and the public at the European Parliament on 23 May at the 2nd EU Stroke Summit. (more…)
May 7, 2018
Jan Klein; Photo by Fraunhofer MEVIS
Stroke is a devastating disease leading to death and disability in large numbers of patients with massive social and economic impact. Intravenous thrombolysis with Alteplase is available as an effective and safe treatment of acute stroke if given within 4.5 hours of symptom onset.
However, in about 20% of acute stroke patients the time of symptom onset is unknown e.g. because symptoms are recognized when waking-up from sleep in the morning. This large group of patients is currently excluded from treatment with Alteplase only due to the missing information on the time of symptom onset.
WAKE-UP was a European multicentre investigator-initiated randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of MRI based thrombolysis in acute stroke patients with unknown time of symptom onset.
In preparatory work, the WAKE-UP consortium developed an innovative approach of using brain MRI as surrogate marker of stroke lesion age which may be used to identify stroke patients likely to benefit from thrombolysis.
The final results of this trial will be presented at the press conference within ESOC 2018, in Gothenburg, Sweden, from 11:40 to 11:50 CET on Wednesday, 16 May.
As the revealing of the WAKE UP trial results approaches, SAFE used the opportunity to talk with the two scientists, Jan Klein from the Fraunhofer Institute for Medical Image Computing MEVIS, Bremen, Germany and Bastian Cheng, from School of Medicine and University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf to learn more about SONIA – the diagnostic imaging software that was developed during the course of the project. (more…)
Apr 26, 2018
Brussels, 16 April 2018- The eLearning Module 1 of the Stroke Support Organisation Faculty Tool (SSOFT) is published today at the following address www.ssoft.info.
SSOFT’s first module focuses on the principles around developing and growing SSOs, and is delivered in five sub-modules:
1.1 – What is a Stroke Support Organisation?
1.2 – What is the role of a Stroke Support Organisation?
1.3 – How do you set up a Stroke Support Organisation?
1.4 – Growing your Stroke Support Organisation
1.5 – Stroke Support Organisation networking
The module provides learners with a wealth of knowledge and includes videos, interactive content and activities. Learners will be able to work through the sub-modules at their own pace, earn rewards and share their progress on social media. (more…)
Apr 26, 2018
In the 30 min round-table discussion video on ESUS, stroke experts (Valeria Caso, Perugia, Danilo Toni, Rome, and Martin Grond, Siegen) discuss the definition of ESUS, diagnostic workup of ischemic stroke and potential implications of the ongoing trials in ESUS.
Embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) is a type of ischemic stroke with unknown origin, i.e. for which no probable cause can be identified after standard diagnostic evaluation. In contrast, the term ‘cryptogenic stroke’ is less well-defined and includes strokes with unknown sources which have not been fully evaluated or have more than one potential cause. About 1 in 6 ischemic strokes is an ESUS. Patient who suffer from ESUS tend to be slightly younger than stroke patients in general and strokes are less severe on average. However, the risk of stroke recurrence after ESUS is high: Within 5 years, nearly 1 in 3 patients may again suffer another stroke. (more…)
Apr 16, 2018
Brussels, 16 April 2018- The Stroke Support Organisation Faculty Tool (SSOFT) website goes live today at the following address www.ssoft.info.
The website is a gateway to the new and innovative online eLearning advocacy tool being developed by Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE), in partnership with the European Stroke Organisation (ESO). (more…)
Mar 23, 2018
The Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018 – 2030
A challenge for policy makers and a framework for tackling the rising burden of stroke in Europe
Leaders of the European stroke community met today in Munich to develop the ESO / SAFE Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018-2030, including leading academics, stroke survivors and caregivers, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and representatives from stroke organisations and the World Health Organisation. It creates an aspirational framework to drive healthcare policy, research priorities, local stroke management and patient-focussed care to meet the need demonstrated in the ESO / SAFE Burden of Stroke report, with €45 billion direct and indirect healthcare costs each year, a 34% increase in strokes by the year 2035 due to the ageing population, and huge variations in the level of stroke care available across Europe. (more…)
