Cardiovascular care of patients with stroke and high risk of stroke: The need for interdisciplinary action: A consensus report from the European Society of Cardiology Cardiovascular Round Table.

Comprehensive stroke care is an interdisciplinary challenge. Close collaboration of cardiologists and stroke physicians is critical to ensure optimum utilisation of short- and long-term care and preventive measures in patients with stroke. Risk factor management is an important strategy that requires cardiologic involvement for primary and secondary stroke prevention. Treatment of stroke generally is led by stroke physicians, yet cardiologists need to be integrated care providers in stroke units to address all cardiovascular aspects of acute stroke care, including arrhythmia management, blood pressure control, elevated levels of cardiac troponins, valvular disease/endocarditis, and the general management of cardiovascular comorbidities. Despite substantial progress in stroke research and clinical care has been achieved, relevant gaps in clinical evidence remain and cause uncertainties in best practice for treatment and prevention of stroke. The Cardiovascular Round Table of the European Society of Cardiology together with the European Society of Cardiology Council on Stroke in cooperation with the European Stroke Organisation and partners from related scientific societies, regulatory authorities and industry conveyed a two-day workshop to discuss current and emerging concepts and apparent gaps in stroke care, including risk factor management, acute diagnostics, treatments and complications, and operational/logistic issues for health care systems and integrated networks. Joint initiatives of cardiologists and stroke physicians are needed in research and clinical care to target unresolved interdisciplinary problems and to promote the best possible outcomes for patients with stroke

Antiplatelet treatment in primary and secondary stroke prevention in women.

Stroke is a leading cause of death worldwide and the first cause of disability in the Western world. Over the last 20 years, antiplatelet agents have reduced overall stroke rates in primary and secondary prevention in men. However, this has not been the case for women. In this narrative review, the most widely used antiplatelet therapies for primary and secondary prevention in stroke, excluding cardioembolic stroke, will be outlined. First, the largest randomised controlled trials will be analysed as well as the enrolment percentages of women. Second, analyses on sex-interaction effects in each study will be examined. Moreover, the Authors will discuss the need to develop targeted antiplatelet therapies specifically for women. Based on current results, the most randomised clinical trials and meta-analyses on antiplatelet agents in cerebrovascular disease have not performed sub-analyses on sex-related differences and this is mainly because women were underrepresented. Despite this, antiplatelet agents are considered to be equally effective for both sexes in primary and secondary stroke prevention. Finally, aspirin is the most widely studied antiplatelet in women and has been shown to provide greater benefit for women as primary prevention of ischemic stroke without a significant increased risk in haemorrhage

The cloud stroke unit: 24-hour acute stroke expertise-on-demand.

The use of telemedicine, especially as it is relates to telestroke, has significantly expanded over the past one or two decades. The fact that stroke therapy is a time-critical disease process, coupled with the relative paucity of stroke-trained practitioners, makes telestroke an attractive technique of care. The authors' objective was to summarize the evidence that support the reliability of telemedicine for diagnosis and efficacy in acute stroke treatment in collaboration between hospitals in two different countries

The cloud stroke unit: 24-hour acute stroke expertise-on-demand.

The use of telemedicine, especially as it is relates to telestroke, has significantly expanded over the past one or two decades. The fact that stroke therapy is a time-critical disease process, coupled with the relative paucity of stroke-trained practitioners, makes telestroke an attractive technique of care. The authors' objective was to summarize the evidence that support the reliability of telemedicine for diagnosis and efficacy in acute stroke treatment in collaboration between hospitals in two different countries