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…)
Mar 19, 2018
A new multi-million Euro initiative funded by the European Commission has been set up to help prevent stroke in patients with existing conditions.
The €6.9m project is aimed at patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart condition which causes irregular and abnormally fast heartbeat, who have previously had a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain (termed intracerebral haemorrhage or ICH). The Prevention of Stroke in intracerebral hemorrhage survivor with Atrial Fibrillation (PRESTIGE-AF) brings together scientists and clinicians across Europe with the goal of reducing the risk of further stroke in this group of patients. (more…)
Mar 13, 2018
The webinar will kick-off the State of the Art on how Stroke treatment can be improved by focusing on the organization of the Systems of Care and in the In-Hospital Organization. (more…)
Mar 9, 2018

Burden of Stroke Report, 2017
The Stroke Alliance for Europe, as the largest pan-European organisation of stroke patient support organisations and the European Stroke Organisation, the largest European organisation of stroke professionals have increasingly been working together and are committed to sharing expertise and best practice to ensure the best outcomes for stroke patients.
Together we are currently developing the revised Stroke Action Plan for Europe which will be launched in May 2018. SAFE will follow this with the results of our next key piece of commissioned research, the Economic Impact of Stroke in Europe.
The primary goal of this study by a health economics team from the University of Oxford is to increase the priority given to stroke and to reinforce and underpin the influencing of European and country-level policy work already underway as a result of the Burden of Stroke Report. (more…)