Handbook of Cerebrovascular Diseases, Revised and Expanded PDF

Preface, Acknowledgements and Thanks

The first edition of the Handbook of Cerebrovascular Diseases was published in 1993. Since the publication of that book, management of vascular diseases of the nervous system has changed dramatically. The evaluation of patients has evolved with the improvement of diagnostic studies. New medical therapies and interventions to prevent stroke have been developed includingmedic ations to help stabilize the arterial wall. Thrombolytic therapy has been approved for treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke. New methods to prevent or control complications of stroke are beinginst ituted. Finally, measures to maximize recovery through rehabilitation are being employed. These advances support the importance of a new edition of the Handbook of Cerebrovascular Diseases. I thank the publisher for takingthe leadership in sponsoring this publication.

I also thank the authors of the chapters in this book, many of them contributed to the first edition. These colleagues are very busy and I appreciate their taking time to collaborate in this endeavor. The quality of their contributions is excellent. I also thank them for asking junior colleagues to participate in these submissions. Such a strategy is an important way to allow youngphy sicians to contribute to the medical literature.

I thank my colleagues at the University of Iowa who have supported by activities in education, patient care, and research. I thank the nurse coordinators, in particular Karla Grimsman, who have expedited my clinical research projects. I also thank my secretaries, who have provided great assistance in the production of this book. In particular, I acknowledge the help of Beth Bell, Jill Trumm, and Jessica Fritz.