More than 450 of the Asia-Pacific's eminent minds in stroke will converge on Canberra this week to showcase the latest breakthroughs in research contributing to our understanding of stroke.
The Stroke Society of Australasia (SSA) is hosting Stroke 2019: New frontiers in stroke science, its 29th Annual Scientific Meeting, at the National Convention Centre.
SSA President Professor Helen Dewey said Stroke 2019 delivered an exciting program looking at the most recent, robust research nationally and internationally, investigating stroke's mechanisms, consequences, diagnosis, prevention, management and recovery.
"It is an exciting time in stroke, innovations in time-critical treatment are changing the way stroke is treated nationally and internationally, and Australia is at the forefront of this advancement,'' Professor Dewey said.
"Australian researchers were central to the development of clot retrieval therapy, the extension of the time window for clot-dissolving treatment, and global investigations of the use of Mobile Stroke Units.
"Now we are leading the way again, with a new project investigating the prospect of fitting out aircraft with brain scanning technology to enable quicker stroke diagnosis and treatment in our remote and regional areas. We are also investigating new treatments to support survivors in their rehabilitation, leading to improvements in stroke recovery.
"Stroke 2019 brings together our amazing clinicians, researchers and other stroke-related health professionals to share and learn from the best in the Asia-Pacific and internationally,'' she said.
Professor Dewey said more than 56,000 strokes would be experienced this year alone in Australia and there were more than 475,000 stroke survivors living in our community.
"Incidence of stroke is on the increase, by 2050 it is estimated more than 132,000 strokes will be experienced by Australians annually – that is one stroke every four minutes,'' she said.
"The good news is breakthroughs in stroke are coming all the time, and stroke is no longer a death sentence for many. The challenge now is to harness these learnings to ensure all patients have access to the best-practice stroke treatment and care we know saves lives."
Innovations to be showcased at Stroke 2019 include Australia's first Mobile Stroke Unit or Stroke Ambulance, extending the window for time-critical stroke treatments and the impact of imaging, stroke in young people, breaking down geographical barriers to stroke treatment and rehabilitation through telehealth and clinical interventions to support stroke recovery.
International stroke experts presenting new innovations from across the globe include:
• Professor Tudor Jovin - Professor of Neurology at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Chairman of Neurology at Cooper University Healthcare and Director of the Cooper Neurological Institute: "How much imaging is needed to select acute stroke patients for thrombectomy?"
• Professor Lee Schwamm - Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of Acute Stroke Services at Massachusetts General Hospital,Boston: "From Randomized Trials to Clinical Registries: Translating evidence into practice improvement."
• Professor Pamela W. Duncan – Professor of Neurology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Director of Innovations and Transitional Outcomes at Wake Forest Baptist Health: "Comprehensive Stroke Care: Is it time for a paradigm shift?"
• Professor Richard Aviv - Professor of Medical Imaging, Division of Neuroradiology, and Affiliate scientist, at the Sunnybrook Research Institute: "Multimodal CT imaging based selection of patients for acute stroke treatment."
