Celebrating 10 years of the International Journal of Stroke!

This edition is landmark in several ways. First, it marks the end of our 10th year of publication, in which we have seen the evolution of stroke therapy reach the lows and the very highs. How disappointed we all were when neuro protection failed to live up to its preclinical promise. In spite of the many proposed reasons for failure to find a neuroprotectant, the reality is we still do not know why they do not work!

The highs have undoubtedly been the introduction of thrombectomy and NOACs, which are the most exciting new forms of therapy based on level 1 evidence.

Where this is going to take us over the next decade is difficult to predict. Will we refine thrombectomy devices and procedures and possibly achieve 100% recanalization rates with few complications? Will we have revolutionized health care systems so that more than 50% of eligible patients have access to thrombectomy? Will neruoprotection finally flower in a role to minimize reprofusion damage, or will it remain a dead horse?

Will we have a satisfactory body of level 1 evidence, based on well-conducted, large, randomized control trials, proving that rehabilitation not only works, but also the information to guide us in its application?

Second, we are about to embark into our first new decade, under the banner of our new publisher, SAGE. I would like to personally thank Wiley for having the vision to back our young journal and see it through to adolescence. I've been privileged to work with some wonderful people, who helped an inexperienced editor, as we developed a publication with a very different look and feel to most others in the field.

As we go into the next phase of our growth, I'm looking forward to working with SAGE, a young and innovative company, which is rapidly expanding in the area of scientific publication.

Looking into the future, I mentioned the importance of thrombectomy, and I am pleased to publish Buchan et al. which is a systematic review and meta analysis of randomized controlled trials of endovascular thrombectomy compared to intravenous thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke to date. We also have in this edition, protocols of two very important secondary prevention trials: ‘Acute Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack Treated with Aspirin or Ticagrelor and Patient Outcomes (SOCRATES) Trial: Rationale and Design and Design of Randomized, double-blind, Evaluation in secondary Stroke Prevention comparing the EfficaCy and safety of the oral Thrombin inhibitor dabigatran etexilate versus acetylsalicylic acid in patients with Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source (RE-SPECT ESUS)’. The latter still represents an important challenge and, if both are successful, will further reduce the unacceptable burden of current stroke.

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