International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society
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Intracerebral haemorrhage is the most devastating subtype of stroke. It affects approximately two million patients worldwide every year and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. ⋯ However, research has contributed to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of intracerebral haemorrhage and also to the identification of new treatment targets. Several novel aspects of treatment of spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage are reviewed in the present article.
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The European Hypothermia Stroke Research Workshop was held in January 2010, in response to the alarming prospects of a significant increase of stroke expected in the coming years globally. Considering that a minority of patients (around 10%) are currently eligible for thrombolytic treatment, there is a need for an efficacious, cost-effective novel therapy that can be implemented broadly within European health care systems. Accordingly, the primary objective of the workshop was the definition of a research agenda aiming to assess the therapeutic benefits of hypothermia in patients with acute ischaemic stroke. ⋯ The participants adopted the 'Hypothermia for Stroke--Call to Action 2010', a declaration specifying the priorities for hypothermia research in acute ischaemic stroke. The research programme outlined--a clinical study programme designed to identify and validate therapeutic cooling as a novel treatment providing benefit to a large number of stroke patients--contains a well-integrated series of Phase II studies aiming to refine the intervention (depth, duration, and mode of cooling; antishivering strategy; patient selection) and a pivotal Phase III clinical trial. The proposed integrated Phase II and III clinical study programme would test the effectiveness of this optimised intervention, and would allow the development of evidence-based Clinical Practice Guidelines describing the optimal use of therapeutic hypothermia as a treatment strategy for stroke.