Introducing InterSECT

See related article, p e155 Just over 2 decades ago, the US Food and Drug Administration approved intravenous recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke based on the results of the NINDS trial (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke), published in December 1995.1 Since then, the field of stroke has matured rapidly. Ten years after the publication of the NINDS recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator trial, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology began to award certificates in the subspecialty of Vascular Neurology; ≈38 graduates of Vascular Neurology fellowships are certified annually.2 Primary stroke centers have been certified by The Joint Commission since 2004, and comprehensive stroke centers have been approved more recently, beginning in 2012. The American Stroke Association has become an increasingly independent component of the American Heart Association, and the International Stroke Conference has continued to grow in size and international scope. Abroad, the European Stroke Organization and other societies dedicated to stroke care and research have begun to hold their own independent meetings. In 2015, the results of 5 independent clinical trials of second-generation stent-retriever devices for middle cerebral artery occlusion were simultaneously presented at the International Stroke Conference, leading to the era of mechanical thrombectomy and necessitating improved systems of care to enable patients to …