Future trends.

Abstract

The landscape of acute stroke care has changed dramatically in the last decade. Even before the approval of tissue plasminogen activator for acute stroke in 1996, organized acute stroke care was initiated at several hospitals and the pharmaceutical industry was deeply entrenched in the search for neuroprotective agents. In the year 2002, acute stroke care continues to demand the attention of neurologists as well emergency physicians. Despite the failures of many neuroprotective agents and the relative lack of use of tPA, the acute treatment of the stroke has gained increasing importance both at an individual and national level. This chapter reviews some of the advances in the acute treatment of stroke, future of acute stroke care and discusses the emerging role of the emergency physician in this area.