Basic and epidemiological aspects

Section 1: Historical perspective: The history of stroke and cerebrovascular disease. Section 2: Basic science overview and pathology: The ischemic cascade and mediators of ischemic injury. Animal models of ischemic stroke. Cerebral blood flow and ischemic penumbra. Neuropathology of ischemic brain injury. Reperfusion injury after stroke: neurovascular proteases and the blood-brain barrier. Gene induction, protein synthesis and related issues. Effects of gender and sex steroids on ischemic injury. Ischemic tolerance as an active and intrinsic neuroprotective mechanism. Vascular endothelium and the blood-brain barrier. A cerebrovascular perspective of atherosclerosis. Blood coagulation and fibrinolysis: mechanisms of thrombosis. Anatomy of the circulation of the brain and spinal cord. Cerebral vascular dysregulation in the ischemic brain. Experimental models in intracerebral hemorrhage. Section 3: Clinical epidemiology: The worldwide burden of stroke: current status and future projections. Stroke among women, ethnic groups, young adults and children. Clinical genetic issues in stroke. Costs and health care system issues. Epidemiological implications of primary and secondary stroke prevention. Stroke recurrence and prognosis after stroke.