"This year will be remembered above all for a great novelty in the field of the fight against stroke: the affirmation of Interventional endovascular techniques to treat acute stroke. In fact, we have understood that with this approach it is possible to unclog the cerebral arteries more effectively, extending the time limit within which it is still possible to avoid permanent brain damage to the patient”. So the Prof. Vincenzo Di Lazzaro, Head of the Neurology Area of ​​the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, on the occasion ofVIII World Stroke Day, promoted by World Stroke Organization.
 
Stroke strikes 15 million people every year in the world, 200 thousand in Italy alone (Source: Italian Society of Neurology). In our country, this pathology is the first cause of disability and the third of death; in about 10 cases it also affects people under the age of 54.
 
"For those who have been affected - he adds Di Lazzaro - scientific research is making great strides forward even for the chronic stages, developing innovative techniques able to promote functional recovery, such as non-invasive brain stimulation , neurorehabilitation with robotic methods and connected to virtual reality. These approaches promote the recovery of patients increasingly and better, by restarting the natural plasticity of our brain, i.e. its ability to adapt to the loss of brain tissue through compensation phenomena involving the brain areas spared from the stroke, so to obtain a good functional recovery".