Its economical burden is among the highest of all diseases.
Ischaemic stroke is by far the most frequent subtype of acute stroke.
Acute, post-acute and rehabilitation care of stroke patients in specialised wards as well as revascularising therapies have been proven to be effective in acute ischaemic stroke. This series of recommendations is proposed by the European Stroke Initiative, the common body of three major European neurological or stroke-related societies, the European Neurological Society ENS, the European Federation of Neurological Society EFNS and the European Stroke Council, which also represents the European Stroke Conference. In these recommendations, the authors provide both an overview of established or widely used therapeutic strategies as well as an evaluation of involving, but not yet proven strategies. Table 1 gives the definitions for levels of evidence used in these recommendations. Table 1 .