Conference to explore acute ischemic stroke treatment

Designed to serve a multidisciplinary audience of physicians, clinicians, and scientists interested in cerebrovascular disease, this 2.5-day conference will explore the state-of-the-art and future directions of research and clinical practice leading to enhanced medical care in the acute treatment of ischemic stroke.

Following on ten previous international symposia on the theme of thrombolytic treatment in acute ischemic stroke (i.e. TTAST, TAST), the New York Academy of Sciences is proud to undertake the 11th meeting in this series (TAST 2011) to focus on these issues.

The program will feature keynote and plenary lectures, short oral and poster presentations selected from abstract submissions, a mini-symposium, and a hands-on workshop on Advanced Multi-modal Neuroimaging and Ultrasound Techniques. There will be multiple opportunities for audience and panel discussion. Speakers will be asked to respond to sets of questions during their presentations to foster the generation of data-driven, multidisciplinary ideas, to explore ischemic stroke as a systemic disease related to other disease entities (hypertension, diabetes, and disorders of aging), and to better address the evolution of ischemic brain injury.

Highlighted topics include: (i) the neurovascular unit and its injury; (ii) the safety and efficacy of thrombolytic agents currently used or being developed for acute stroke treatment; (iii) new views of the penumbra; (iv) time window considerations and optimized delivery conditions; (v) stabilization of brain tissue for patient recovery; (vi) enhancing the safety of plasminogen activators; (vii) factors that influence risk and benefit; and (viii) alternative approaches in stroke treatment.