They did it for heart attacks. Can cardiologists now lead an effort to speed up the emergency medical response for stroke? Over the past five years, the Stent for Life initiative organised by interventional cardiologists has pushed majors medical centres to assure 24/7 coverage and reduce the time to treatment for patients showing up with severe chest pain.
She is a neuroradiologist, professor, researcher and now the Medical Director of the Department of Neuroradiology at Dresden University Hospital. Her objectives are ambitious – be it in patient care, research or teaching. Professor Jennifer Linn MD wants to increase the quality of care, drive breakthroughs in research, ignite enthusiasm in students for their future profession and last, but not…
Women may have a more difficult time than men in recovering from concussion, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) were able to enroll patients at other hospitals into an acute stroke clinical trial.
Stroke resulting from rupture or interruption of blood flow in brain vessels can lead to devastating consequences for patients, their families and society. Steady progress has been achieved in the last 20 years in stroke treatment through better prevention, establishment of stroke care units and the use of clot-busting drugs (intravenous thrombolysis).
No need to ask who was really shocked by the Halle Shock trial, followed by the multi-centre Shock II trial.
Neurologists keenly debate the value of mechanical reopening of blocked blood vessels in the brain, as demonstrated during the 21st World Congress for Neurology (WCN) in Vienna this September. Theoretically, endovascular thrombolysis can only be considered for 20-30% of all incidents of stroke.
Smoking increases the risk of heart disease and stroke by five-fold in people under the age of 50 and doubles risk in the over-60s.
European doctors and scientists are working on the StrokeBack project, a medical system aimed at supporting stroke patients in their rehabilitation. Modern technology helps affected patients to practise their mobility at home.
As this decade ends we’ll be watching the brain think. Although anticipating very important technical developments, Professor Olav Jansen MD (right), President of the German Society for Neuroradiology (DGNR) and Director of the Institute for Neuroradiology at Schlewwig-Hostein University Hospital in Kiel, Germany, foresees even more important crucial advances in stroke therapy
Stroke survivors who like art have a significantly higher quality of life than those who do not, according to new research. Patients who appreciated music, painting and theatre recovered better from their stroke than patients who did not.
Neurointensivists need to act quickly and carefully – as well as consider later complications or the psychological impact on stroke victims. This potentially debilitating disease was a central discussion among 1,400 participants from 10 countries during the three-day 29th Annual Conference of Neurointensive Medicine (ANIM), an event hosted in January by The German Society for Neuro-Intensive…
The theme of this year's World Stroke Day on 29 October is "One in Six", referring to the facts that one in six people will have a stroke at some point in their lifetime, and that a stroke will be the cause of someone's death every six seconds. These, says the World Stroke Organization (WSO), are everyday people leading everyday lives, but around 85% of them will have risk factors…
Neurocardiology – especially atrial fibrillation (AF) – was the key topic during a press conference held during the 55th Annual Congress of the Germany Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imaging (DGKN) this March. For good reason: Worldwide, there are around six million AF sufferers -- and it is one of the most common causes of stroke because this cardiac irregularity can…
USA - Although it is well know that the speed of diagnosis and treatment for stroke victims is of paramount importance (4.5 hours), not all US hospitals have stroke expertise. The Joint Commission, the organisation responsible for accrediting US non-government hospitals, has certified only about 500 out of several thousand hospitals as primary stroke centres.
Clues to the causes of serious, and often fatal, diseases and conditions, such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure, are being investigated at the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow, both in Scotland, with the use of a £1 million grant.
The Siemens sector Healthcare has developed the new consulting model “Act on Stroke”, tailored specifically to clinical workflows in the treatment of stroke. Following models for industry processes, an expert team from Siemens evaluates the maturity level of clinical processes in a hospital.
With the “World Stroke Day” the World Stroke Organization (WSO) aims to communicate a unified message to the world: stroke is a preventable and treatable catastrophe, and together we can fight this growing epidemic. This year’s theme is “Stroke‐What can I do?” The answer is ‐ a lot. The WSO prompts individuals, groups and governments to take action against stroke either at a…
It’s hardly surprising that stroke was a focus at the 20th meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) -- every year at least a million people suffer one in the EU. In an interview with Bettina Döbereiner, Professor Karl Max Einhäupl, Director of the Department of Neurology at the Charité - University of Medicine Berlin, of which he is Chairman of the Board and co-chair of the ENS…
A new obesity measurement for the 21st Century, which can help identify individuals at risk of illness such as heart disease, strokes and diabetes, has been officially launched this week. The Body Volume Index (BVI), designed by Select Research, uses a 3D white-light scanner to calculate risk factors associated with a person's body shape and type, through analysis of weight and body fat…
A team led by UK-based researchers has found that having diabetes doubles the risk of developing a wide range of blood vessel diseases, including heart attacks and different types of stroke. The consortium, headed by Dr Nadeem Sarwar and Professor John Danesh of the University of Cambridge, analysed data from the individual records on 700,000 people, each of whom was monitored for about a decade…
Trials for a new type of treatment for stroke that could help millions of people at risk of death or disability should commence in 2011. A research team in France has successfully completed laboratory tests of antibodies that protect the brain and reduce the side-effects of current therapy.
A telemedicine project is being used in rural areas of eastern England to enable stroke patients to receive clot-busting drugs within a critical three-hour time window. Adapting video-conferencing facilities, a telestroke service has enabled patients to receive a diagnosis from a stroke specialist, who can authorise thrombolytic drugs to be administered to those deemed eligible.
A key development at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), east of England, has seen a change in the role of radiology assistants: They now help to prepare patients for radiology scans and look after them -- work previously undertaken by radiographers. The change now allows radiographers more time to concentrate on scanning patients, resulting in faster scanning with quicker…