JEDDAH — The Faculty of Medicine at King Abdulaziz University in collaboration with King Abdulaziz University Hospital recently organized its first neurovascular day in Jeddah with the support of Boehringer Ingelheim. The medical meeting brought together experts from different institutions within the Kingdom in order to discuss topics such as important anatomy in strokes, updates in stroke management, risk factor modification and the approach to acute stroke in the emergency room. The global/local stroke burden and the importance of establishing specialized stroke units were also topics covered during the meeting. As part of Boehringer Ingelheim's new regional stroke initiative, “Making Every Second Count Toward Stroke Recovery”, a collaboration was started with regional stroke specialists and neurologists to implement a stroke program to facilitate acute care across the GCC, Egypt and Lebanon. The program highlights the importance of stroke units, which aim to provide superior technology with multidisciplinary teams that exclusively manage stroke patients in a ward. In the GCC, the annual incidence of strokes ranged from 27.6 to 57 per 100,000. In Saudi Arabia it is estimated to be 186 per 100,000 people and it is the cause of 5,000 deaths a year. There are between 50-100 cases of stroke a day in Saudi Arabia, which is equivalent to around one case every 15 minutes. Dr. Omar Ayoub, assistant professor and consultant of neurology at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, said: “We are excited to build our stroke unit in King Abdulaziz University Hospital and to have the first stroke unit in Jeddah. “We appreciate the partnership with Boehringer Ingelheim and its stroke initiative in order to address strokes, particularly its management to provide better care to our patients in KSA. “Establishing the stroke units in the hospitals is a crucial step in accomplishing this goal and we hope that the other hospitals across the country will collaborate with us in order to expand our reach.”
