European Stroke Organizational Report.

During the past 3 years, the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) has seen the launch of its annual congress, its growing attendance, and a boom in the society’s membership with currently >7000 professionals enrolled as members. Within this 3-year period, 36 National Stroke societies throughout the world have joined as associate members with the expressed intent to adhere to and promote stroke diagnosis and treatment according to ESO stroke treatment standards. At the 2017 ESO Conference (ESOC) held in Prague, and chaired by Martin Dichgans, the number of submitted abstracts was >1800, and the number of participants exceeded 4000 clinicians, researchers, and other healthcare professionals. Many investigators chose ESOC 2017 to present landmark results of their studies, including >12 randomized controlled trials. Tudor Jovin and Raul G. Nogueira presented the final results from the DAWN trial (Clinical Mismatch in the Triage of Wake Up and Late Presenting Strokes Undergoing Neurointervention With Trevo) reporting superior functional outcomes at 90 days with endovascular thrombectomy plus medical management compared with medical management alone in carefully selected patients with ischemic stroke and a proximal intracranial artery occlusion, treated 6 to 24 hours after last seen. Two trials on patent foramen ovale closure were presented: CLOSE (Patent Foramen Ovale Closure or Anticoagulants Versus Antiplatelet Therapy to Prevent Stroke Recurrence) and Gore-REDUCE (GORE® HELEX® Septal Occluder / GORE® Septal Occluder for Patent Foramen Ovale [PFO] Closure in Stroke Patients). Further trials focused on tenecteplase for intravenous thrombolysis (NOR-TEST [Norwegian Tenecteplase Stroke Trial]), on aspiration in patients with large-vessel occlusion (ASTER [Interest of Direct Aspiration First Pass Technique (ADAPT) for Thrombectomy Revascularization of Large Vessel Occlusion in Acute Ischaemic Stroke]), and on general anesthesia versus conscious sedation during endovascular therapy for ischemic stroke (ANSTROKE [Sedation Versus General Anesthesia for Endovascular Therapy in Acute StrokeImpact on Neurological Outcome] and GOLIATH studies [General or Local Anaestesia in Intra Arterial Therapy]). At ESOC 2017, Joanna Wardlow, Professor of Applied Neuroimaging and Honorary Consultant Neuroradiologist at the University of Edinburgh, was awarded with the ESO Presidential Award for her worldwide leadership role in effectively defining diagnostic criteria in stroke treatment and prevention. Joanna Wardlaw has published >550 papers, many of which in highimpact journals, which have attracted in excess of 13 000 citations. The ESO Scientific Excellence Award 2017 was given to Prof Daniel Strbian who has led research that culminated in the DRAGON (predicts functional outcome in the hyperacute phase of intravenous thrombolysis) and SEDAN (predicts risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage after tPA) scores. At the conference, the space allocated to allied health careers was enlarged in recognition of their contribution to stroke care and research. ESOC 2018 will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, from May 16–18, 2018. ESO has decided to draft a European Action Plan for Stroke in Europe during the period 2018 to 2030, in collaboration with the patient organization Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE). Two earlier consensus conferences on stroke management in Europe were held in 1994 and 2006. These conferences were organized by the European Stroke Council (1994) and the International Stroke Society (2006) in cooperation with the World Health Organization. The consensus documents (The Helsingborg Declarations) were used as a basis for setting up and planning stroke services. Previous declarations reviewed current evidence, set up fixed targets, and identified prioritized areas of research. A third European consensus conference is scheduled to take place in 2018. There will be 6 domains of this Action Plan, 5 from the Helsingborg Declarations, plus Primary Prevention. – Primary Prevention – Organization of Stroke Services – Management for Acute Stroke – Secondary Prevention and Organized Follow-Up – Rehabilitation – Evaluation of Stroke Outcome and Quality Assessment For each domain, prioritized research areas will be identified. Besides the prioritized research areas of the 6 domains above, there will also be a separate group who will be in charge of identifying prioritized research areas for translational stroke research. All costs related to drafting the document, as well as its final face–face meeting, will be covered by the ESO. This meeting will be streamed live and open to participation and discussion through ESO social media. The Action Plan will be presented at ESOC 2018 and submitted for publication thereafter. The Action Plan will be coordinated by Bo Norrving, former World Stroke Organization president, and Valeria Caso as current ESO president. ESO has developed a much called for standard operation procedure dealing with the endorsement of stroke research in the fields of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. This policy document will be posted on the ESO website shortly. European Stroke Organizational Report