Abstract
In February this year, just when in many places in Europe and around the world, people had become hopeful that the heavy burden of the Covid-19 pandemic was finally lifting, we were shaken by a war in Europe. The European Stroke Organisation (ESO), while being an apolitical organisation focussed on healthcare and stroke science, has deplored this war and the attacks of Russian military forces endangering Ukrainian non-combatant civilians. We echo the sentiments of the ESO Executive Committee and their call for a rapid, peaceful resolution. 1 Our Journal’s publisher, Sage Publishing, has also issued a statement condemning the invasion and detailing its response, including that in common with many publishers Sage has opened its platforms and content to users in Ukraine. 2
This issue of the European Stroke Journal brings you the ESO guideline on stroke in women and many other reports that we feel enhance our knowledge on stroke aetiology, treatment and organisation of care. However, how can one deliver stroke care and work on improving stroke treatment in a country at war, where people have to flee to escape violence and death, and if they stay have to seek shelter because of air raid alarms.
In the past weeks, when I (KK) treated patients with stroke, my thoughts often wandered to those persons who have experienced a stroke or other diseases while in a bomb shelter, not being able to receive the treatment they needed. Many of us may have heard personal stories of Ukrainian people who have fled their country. Just after the invasion we admitted a patient to our ward, a mother with a malignant brain tumour, who had been fetched from Ukraine by her daughter. The daughter, a Ukrainian student in her twenties who had chosen the Netherlands for her university education, had driven 35 h straight to bring her mother to a place where she might receive treatment. Facing disease is already more than difficult in normal circumstances. European initiatives are now looking to organise and coordinate care abroad for Ukrainian patients in need of treatment that can no longer be delivered because of the war.
When this issue of the European Stroke Journal will appear in June, many of you will have met, in person or virtually, at the hybrid European Stroke Organisation Conference in Lyon. We hope that at this meeting, you will not only learn from each other’s science and experience, but will also take the time to meet and get to know each other’s cultures and to share your passion for stroke research and stroke care. Realising that we all have so much more in common than any differences, might contribute to peace and with that also to improving stroke care around the world.
Within the European Stroke Journal, we remain committed to share with you the newest ESO guidelines and research results that will help us to advance our knowledge and to provide the best care to our patients with stroke. This issue includes a report describing recent progress towards improving stroke care in Eastern Europe, papers examining the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on stroke care in Slovakia and Germany, which show the resilience of their healthcare systems, and a protocol for monitoring prevalence, risk factors and outcomes of cerebral ischaemia in Covid-19 patients. We have ample challenges from natural threats without adding the devastation of armed conflict. We hope that optimal stroke care may soon be delivered in peace again everywhere in Europe.