Conference spotlight: 21st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Stroke Society,the 1st Symposium of the Swiss Stroke Nursing Network and the Swiss Stroke Trialists’ Meeting

Abstract

The 21st Annual Meeting of the Swiss Stroke Society held in Lausanne, Switzerland, from the 11th to 12th January 2018 at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) included scientific sessions about vasculitis, hyperacute stroke management, the old and polymorbid stroke patient, and cerebral aneurysms/vasospasms and inaugurated the 1st Symposium of the Swiss Stroke Nursing Network.

More than 100 nurses and therapists and more than 120 physicians have participated at this triple meeting on the 11th/12th of January 2018 at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV). National and international speakers presented high quality updates on the four main meeting topics: vasculitis, hyperacute stroke management, the old and polymorbid stroke patient, and cerebral aneurysms/vasospasms. These conferences are now available for members on the website of the Swiss Stroke Society (SSS, www.neurovasc.ch). Lively debates accompanied these presentations and continued during breaks and lunches.

The oral presentations of selected abstracts highlighted the high level of Swiss stroke research and the excellent collaboration between stroke centers nationwide. The Young Swiss Stroke Physicians under the leadership of Mira Katan Kahles and Gian Marco De Marchis organized and presented this year’s SSS prizes.

Best oral presentation award and the SSS young career grant (Figure 1)

Best oral presentation awards for J Kaesmacher (Berne, 2nd place), “Preinterventional recanalization and change of arterial occlusion site before thrombectomy in directly admitted stroke patients: Is preinterventional tPA always helpful?,” and B Grüter (Aarau, 1st place), “A Biodegradable Magnesium Stent for Aneurysm Healing in a Rat Sidewall Aneurysm Model.”

Figure 1.

The Award Ceremony of the 21st Annual Meeting of the SSS (from left to the right I Schmid, M Arnold, M Katan, B Grüter, J Kaesmacher, GM De Marchis). SSS: Swiss Stroke Society.

The SSS young career grant was awarded to J Kaesmacher (Berne) with his project about “Thrombus migration, and preinterventional recanalization during ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion: Predisposing factors, impact on subsequent endovascular stroke therapy and clinical relevance.”

J Kaesmacher et al. assessed the rates of occlusion site changes before mechanical thrombectomy in patients pretreated with intravenous thrombolysis and those ineligible for medical thrombolytic treatment. They found that, although intravenous thrombolysis markedly facilitates pre-interventional reperfusion, the effect of tPA was not significant in very proximal occlusion patterns and here, the use of tPA was also associated with thrombus fragmentation and subsequent perfusion worsening. The presented results have implications for randomized-controlled trial design evaluating direct mechanical thrombectomy versus bridging such as the SWIFT-DIRECT trial organized in Bern. Future research of this group—with support by the SSS—will focus on more individualized decisions and prediction of which patients will most likely respond to intravenous thrombolysis prior to the start of mechanical thrombectomy.

B Grüter from the neurosurgical Department of the Cantonal Hospital Aarau presented an experimental study conducted in their cerebrovascular research lab, which is run under the patronage of the Department for Biomedical Research at the University of Bern. The group tested bioresorbable magnesium-alloy stent for treatment of saccular aneurysms. They proofed this endovascular technique to be feasible and successful in a rat sidewall aneurysm model.

Pronounced inflammation triggered by the biodegradable scaffold could markedly be reduced by administration of aspirin. The study concluded the concept of using biodegradable materials, which enable complete aneurysm healing with subsequent degradation of the applied foreign material, to be a promising concept. Further experiments are planned to develop this into a future treatment strategy in a clinical setting of cerebrovascular aneurysmatic disease.

The Swiss Stroke Nursing Network had in 2015 the vision “to organize in the long run a conference/meeting for stroke nurses.” This vision could already be realized with the 1st Symposium of the Swiss Stroke Nursing Network on the 12th January 2018, thanks to the support given by the SSS, which shows and encourages exemplary interprofessional collaboration. This mutual appreciation was always present at both the 21st Annual Meeting and the 1st Symposium.

With more than 100 participants, the response exceeded all expectations. The Organizational Committee led by D Mösinger (Zurich and Vitznau) consisted of C Barreau (Lausanne), A Clement (Zurich), and B Nowak (Basel). They succeeded through many hours of personal investment in offering a highly colorful and professional program of practice and theory for the practice from multilingual lectures.

The Swiss Stroke Nursing Network was able to outline the previous assignment to the nursing criteria for certification of Stroke Units and Centers. Initial findings could be presented from the ongoing clinical practice guideline for oral hygiene of stroke patients. This was followed by a mix of practical topics and nursing science topics. To mention only a few highlights: the CHUV presented itself with three sessions on their outpatient training program for stroke patients, the dysphagia management and the process optimization in the acute phase.

Three nursing science lectures were presented: nursing secondary prophylaxis in patients after stroke—a microtraining for the detection of stroke symptoms; delirium of patients with stroke—prevention, recognition, and nursing management; and stroke the intermittent illness.

The evaluation of the congress was extremely pleasant and can be interpreted according to the motto “Happy or hypp.”

During the Swiss Stroke Trialists’ Meeting, multiple ongoing and new stroke research projects and collaborations were presented. These include the Swiss Stroke Registry, TWIST, TICH-NOAC, TREAT-CAD, AneuX project, AneurysmDataBank, CISS, and several other projects.

The General Assembly of the SSS thanked the retiring committee members H Mattle (Berne, founding member of the SSS) and R Sztajzel (Geneva) for their extraordinary work for the SSS during more than 20 years. The president of the SSS, M Arnold, was re-elected unanimously for another 2-year period. The assembly confirmed the free membership possibility for physicians, nurses, therapists, and other persons interested in the area of stroke who are less than 35 years of age.

The congress organizers would like to thank Congrex Switzerland, especially Ms C Götze, as well as the sponsors for their excellence in managing and supporting these two days in Lausanne.

Warm regards and looking forward to welcome you on the 15th and 16th of January 2019 in Zurich!