Dear SVIN Members,

There are two great crises today, the crisis of inequality and the matter of the earth as a whole. Unfortunately we don’t have the time and/or bandwidth to work on both. My purpose here today is to spur collaboration addressing the inequality in health care, especially stroke care here in the United States and around the world.

Many scholars believe inequality in general is socially constructed. Historians have hypothesized that humanity’s social behavior is the source of most of its inequality. Such socially constructed inequality is passed from generation to generation through teaching, learning, and remembering, but also via the influences of governments, business and war (and today social media).  Stroke remains a disease of immense public health significance despite the advances in our understanding of epidemiology, quality of life, and pathophysiology. Stroke is the second leading cause of death worldwide and STILL the number one cause of disability. Approximately 5.5 million people die of stroke every year around the world, and half of those that do survive are significantly disabled. With mechanical thrombectomy considered by many to be the most significant treatment in stroke over the last 2 decades, we still do not have readily accessible treatment. Together, the SVIN is working to collect and document data on stroke and MT (SVIN registry), and collaborate with our societies, researchers and industry in order to analyze the current situation and work on meaningful solutions (MT2020+).

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhuman.  – Martin Luther King, Jr.

SVIN is blessed to have a hardworking board that is composed of members and committee members from 43 countries! The majority of our membership resides in the USA, though our perspective and our passion to serve is truly international. SVIN’s growth and activities continue to benefit from the determined energy of our members and volunteers. A review of just some of our initiatives below:

The MT2020+ Committee continues to expand its scope to accelerate access to adequate stroke care and mechanical thrombectomy treatment globally. Additionally, MT2020+ officially declared May 15th as “World Stroke Thrombectomy Day” (WTD) in hopes of increasing public awareness of the lifesaving treatment outcomes that mechanical thrombectomy can provide. The wonderful team continues their campaign to reduce the impact of stroke disability globally.

The SVIN Registry continues to record the progress and successes that affect the neurointerventional field. Currently, the SVIN Registry has twelve active sites and over 3000 patients recorded in their database. Additionally, the committee involved with this initiative are writing their first few papers.

The SVIN Guidelines and Practice Committee is making great strides to publish generally accepted guidelines and brief practice updates. These guidelines aim to clarify processes and standards of care throughout our field. The committee hopes to have these guidelines and practice parameters published in the S:VIN Journal.  As a nimble society that understands the risks and burdens on our members during these unprecedented times, SVIN has transitioned to a Hybrid Annual Meeting model, which will include both an in-person and virtual component. Additionally, SVIN continues to promote several virtual educational opportunities for our members, including monthly WebNIR Tutorials and an Annual Virtual SVIN Break Conference.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – In an effort to better serve our members, SVIN has launched a movement to promote a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture within the society. We commit to building a representative workforce within our field and to making the lifesaving treatments our specialties offer equally available to all members of society.

Education – SVIN continues to disseminate knowledge concerning developments in cerebrovascular diseases and neurointerventional procedures by promoting, conducting, and supporting teaching activities for the public, physicians, and scientists interested in this field. In 2021, SVIN’s Advanced Stroke Emergency Support – Emergency Department (ASES-ED) course was translated to Spanish to expand SVIN’s international educational reach. In the future, SVIN hopes to translate all three of its courses into several languages to continue this growth. SVIN also intends to collaborate with its partners at AHA to host SVIN’s educational courses on some of the most utilized and advanced educational platforms known to our field.

S:VIN Journal – SVIN, in collaboration with AHA and John Wiley & Sons, is thrilled to move forward with launching the Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology (S:VIN) Journal in November 2021.This journal will focus on reporting clinical, translational and basic sciences research on interventional, endovascular, medical and surgical management of stroke and vascular disease of the brain, spinal cord, and head and neck.

Thank you for being a valuable and dedicated SVIN member, please volunteer for a committee today.

Sincerely,

Ameer E. Hassan, DO, FAHA, FSVIN
SVIN President-Elect 2021