Impact on Prehospital Delay of a Stroke Preparedness Campaign: A SW-RCT (Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial).

Background And Purpose: Public campaigns to increase stroke preparedness have been tested in different contexts, showing contradictory results. We evaluated the effectiveness of a stroke campaign, designed specifically for the Italian population in reducing prehospital delay.

Methods: According to an SW-RCT (Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial) design, the campaign was launched in 4 provinces in the northern part of the region Emilia Romagna at 3-month intervals in randomized sequence.

"Opening the Unopenable": Endovascular Treatment in a Patient with Three Months' Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion and Hemispheric Symptomatic Hypoperfusion.

Background: Internal carotid artery occlusion (ICAO) is defined as "untouchable" by all specialists; no treatment is indicated because intervention risks (carotid endarterectomy (CEA) or endovascular treatment) are usually much more than benefits.(1,2) We report the case of a patient admitted to our hospital with an atherothrombotic ischemic stroke due to symptomatic acute ICAO, who developed a recurrent stroke with hemispheric hypoperfusion and was treated in the emergency department with ICAO revascularization after 60 days of occlusion finding.

Case Description: D.