Published online before print January 4, 2007, doi: 10.1161/01.STR.0000255944.26444.24
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(Stroke. 2007;38:214.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.
Advances in Stroke 2006 |
Introduction
From the Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts, Memorial Health Care, Worcester, Mass.
Correspondence to Marc Fisher, MD, UMASS/Memorial Healthcare, 116 Belmont St, Worcester, MA 01605-2982. E-mail fisherm@ummhc.org
Key Words: ischemia • telemedicine • therapy
An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract. |
The Advances in Stroke section that has appeared yearly since 2003 has proven to be both popular and useful to the readership, providing concise reviews of important, novel information across a wide gamut of cerebrovascular topics. For 2006 the section editors of Stroke were asked to overview their areas of expertise. Additionally, the fifth Stroke Therapy Academic Industry Roundtable (STAIR) meeting took place early in 2006 and the main topics of discussion are summarized.
Information about genetic contributions to the development of a variety of cerebrovascular disorders continues to emerge. Collagen gene mutations that predispose to the development of hemorrhages in mice were identified. In humans, several genetic abnormalities related to the development of intracranial aneurysms emerged. Previous studies suggesting a highly significant relationship of phosphodiesterase 4D and ischemic stroke appear to have been blunted by studies that appeared in 2006 not supporting this relationship.
Therapeutics for cerebrovascular disorders experienced important advances and also bitter disappointments in 2006. The major advances were in the realm of secondary prevention where the ESPRIT trial confirmed prior evidence that aspirin and extended-release dipyridamole confers additional benefit regarding secondary stroke prevention in comparison to aspirin monotherapy. The SPARCL trial of atorvastatin demonstrated that 80 mgs daily of this HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor significantly reduced the risk of recurrent stroke and also coronary ischemia in stroke patients. The major disappointment in the therapeutic realm was the failure of the second large clinical trial of the free-radical spin-trap drug, NXY-059, to replicate the positive results seen in
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