Stroke: Insights into Thromboembolism Treatment and Prevention through the Decades

Abstract

With the availability of back issues online for Thrombosis & Haemostasis ever since the original first published issue in 1957 (then under the name Thrombosis et Diasthesis Haemorrhagica), we felt that stroke could be an initial special focus, given the publication on this topic in Volume 1, Issue 1 of this journal. 1 Way back in 1957, the era that 'the treatment for all cerebral vascular diseases was futile' 1 and 'the physician's choice lay between masterly inactivity and skilful neglect 2 ', was slowly giving its place to a period of progress in stroke prevention and treatment. At that time, physicians were beginning to feel optimistic that they had started climbing up the learning curve, although it was still clear that they 'did not consider present treatment entirely satisfactory'. 1 Let's take a hypothetical patient, Michael, in the 1950s. If only Michael could share his optimism this evening. For the last 2 hours, he was lying on a bed in the emergency department of the hospital waiting for a physician to examine him and help him talk and move his right leg and hand again. It was easy for him to guess that he was having a "brain attack"many of his friends had suffered something similar, and many of them did not make it through. Next day, although dizzy, Michael could listen to the doctor talking to his daughter:

Adherence to the Atrial Fibrillation Better Care (ABC) pathway and the risk of major outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation: a post-hoc analysis from the prospective GLORIA-AF Registry

“…Over the last decade, the introduction of the ‘integrated care’ concept has been one of the most relevant innovations in AF 9 and other chronic long-term conditions, 30 , 31 acknowledging the need for a new, comprehensive model of care for such patients, who are becoming increasingly complex and with unmet health needs. 32 …”

Targeted delivery of nanomedicines for promoting vascular regeneration in ischemic diseases

“…Embolic ischemia inducing by injecting autologous thrombi into desired arteries has the potential to screen thrombolytic drugs. However, significant variability in the infarct volume, heterogenous nature of lesion development and increased rate of mortality and cerebral hemorrhage limit the use of the thromboembolic model 51 . The most commonly used in vivo experiment model in stroke research is the intraluminal suture middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model, which does not need craniectomy 52 .…”

A Toast to the Last Decade and a Very Happy 2020 from Thrombosis and Haemostasis!

“…We decided to celebrate the full retro-digitalization of Thrombosis and Haemostasis since the first published issue in 1957 (then under the name Thrombosis et Diasthesis Haemorrhagica), by inviting "historical perspective articles". The first of this kind focused on the management of stroke through the decades 25 and we are looking forward to publishing another on platelet inhibition this year.…”