WSO Brain and Heart Week

15 Feb 2021 Other News

The WSO is organising a themed week on the Brain & Heart in February!

Between February 22-26, members of the WSO Brain & Heart Taskforce and WSA will host a Heart & Brain themed week.

Throughout the week we'll highlight the work of the WSO Brain & Heart taskforce, discuss the WSA paper of the month and share brain-heart facts and the latest research on the topic with our followers on social media and the WSO website!

Main events during the week will be I) a moderated chat on Twitter, which will focus on neurocardiogenic syndromes and other aspects of the associations between strokes and the heart and II) this months' webinar on 'Stroke and the Brain-Heart axis'

To join this online activity, please follow us on Twitter: @WorldStrokeOrg and @WorldStrokeEd

Please follow/use the hashtag #brainheart.

- Mission: To reduce the global burden of stroke and post-stroke cardiovascular complications and cardioembolic strokes by improving awareness, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

- Aims: The Brain & Heart Task Force has several goals, which are aligned with mission of the World Stroke Organisation.

Build awareness and knowledge of stroke

To improve the prevention and treatment of stroke, with a special focus on cardioaortic mechanisms.

To improve physicians’ awareness, and ability to diagnose, prevent, and treat post-stroke cardiovascular complications.

To enhance the education of physicians and other health care workers on the prevention of cardioembolic stroke and stroke-related cardiovascular events.

Strengthen global capacity to reduce the impact of stroke

To create and enhance a research network for large, global, collaborative research projects focused on the relationship between the brain and the heart.

To advocate for funding in the field through the WSO and to offer opportunities for improving research on the field globally.

Luciano A. Sposato, MD MBA FRCPC; Chair of the Task Force. Neurology (Western University, London, Canada, North America)
Cecilia M Bahit, MD: Vice -Chair of the Task Force, Cardiology (INECO, Neurociencias, Rosario, Argentina, South America).
Sheila Martins, MD: President elect, WSO. Neurology (Brazil, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, and Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil).
Max J Hilz, MD: Neurology (University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany, Europe)
Sara Aspberg,MD: Cardiology (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, Europe)
Jan Scheitz, MD: Neurology (Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Center for Stroke Research, Berlin, Germany, Europe)
Mary Sheppard, MD: Pathology (St George's University, London, UK, Europe)
Santosh Murthy, MD: Neurology (Stroke & Critical Care, Weill Cornell, New York, USA, North America)
Cheng Yang Hsieh, MD: Neurology (National Cheng Kung University College of Medicine, Tainan, Taiwan, Asia)
Edip Gurol, MD: Neurology (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School)

Monday, February 22: Members of the WSO Brain & Heart Task Force and co-authors of the paper "Post-Stroke Cardiovascular Complications and Neurogenic Cardiac Injury, JACC State-of-the-Art Review" will be interviewed by Dr. Sheila Martins, president elect of the WSO and member of the Task Force.The interview will be uploaded on the WSO website.

Wednesday, February 24: A Tweet chat will take place on the WSO Twitter about Neurocardiogenic syndromes and other aspects of the associations between strokes and the heart. Please follow the #brainheart hashtag.

Friday, February 26: This months' webinar on 'Stroke and the Heart Brain Axis' will be held at 6:00 PM CET.

Invited speakers:

Jan Scheitz: Post-stroke takotsubo syndrome:

Simona Sacco: Relationship between migraine auras and cerebral embolism.

Luciano Sposato: Stroke induced heart injury, a novel pathophysiological concept

Back to the top

Our partners and sponsors

Achieving our vision of a life free from stroke is a task that WSO cannot achieve alone. We are committed to building our partnerships at the global, regional and national level to scale up and deliver improvements in prevention, treatment and support to reduce the burden of stroke.