Neurointerventional Training Guidelines Aim to Ensure Optimal Outcomes for Ischemic Stroke Patients

February 24, 2016—The Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS) recently announced the release of new multisociety training guidelines for endovascular intervention in ischemic stroke patients. The guidelines were developed by an international, multidisciplinary group of neurointerventional medical societies and will be published in eight journals, including SNIS’s Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery, where it is available online ahead of print. 

SNIS President Donald Frei, MD, a neurointerventional surgeon at Radiology Imaging Associates in Denver, Colorado, commented in the society’s announcement, “These new guidelines represent a major step forward in the field of neurointerventional surgery. While SNIS has long been championing the important role of the neurointerventionist in ensuring positive outcomes for stroke patients, this consensus among a distinguished group of organizations elevates the importance of appropriate education, training, and quality assurance processes to effectively treat a very time-sensitive, life-threatening condition.”

Dr. Frei served as Guest Chief Medical Editor for the February 2016 edition of Endovascular Today, which focuses on ischemic stroke intervention and provides an in-depth look at the paradigm shift in managing emergent large vessel occlusion.

SNIS stated that although treatment standards and training guidelines on various neurointerventional procedures, including endovascular therapy for ischemic stroke, have previously been developed and endorsed by SNIS and other multispecialty groups, these new guidelines are the first to result from the cumulative work of key international neurointerventional medical societies. The guidelines define the basic training and qualifications required of new practitioners who are not currently performing inside-the-artery clot removal in the brain, as well as the requirements of the hospitals where these procedures can be performed.

According to SNIS, this is the first time that such a comprehensive group has come together to define the training requirements for physicians to safely and effectively perform inside-the-artery clot removal in the brain.

The society noted that a number of recent clinical trials have provided sufficient evidence to establish neurointerventional surgery as the standard of care for ischemic stroke patients with large vessel blockages. Given the intricacies of the brain, it is critical that endovascular treatment is administered in a stroke center by an experienced physician with a neuroscience background and dedicated neurointerventional training to ensure the best possible outcome for the patient.

Also commenting in SNIS’s press release, Karel terBrugge, MD, who is Chief of Neuroradiology at Toronto Western Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, stated, “Not all vascular systems are the same. These guidelines underscore the importance of a collaborative acute stroke team approach, knowledgeable with respect to the clinical and imaging findings in acute stroke patients, and the training needed to acquire the unique technical skills to operate in one of the body's most complex organs.”

In addition to the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery, the guidelines will also be published in Interventional Neuroradiology, American Journal of Neuroradiology, Journal of Interventional Neurology, the eJournal of the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy, Journal of Neuroendovascular Therapy, Neuroradiology, and Neurosurgery.