title: The European Stroke Organisation Guidelines: a standard operating procedure.
abstract: In 2008, the recently founded European Stroke Organisation published its guidelines for the management of ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack. This highly cited document was translated in several languages and was updated in 2009. Since then, the European Stroke Organisation has published guidelines for the management of intracranial aneurysms and subarachnoidal hemorrhage, for the establishment of stroke units and stroke centers, and recently for the management of intracerebral hemorrhage. In recent years, the methodology for the development of guidelines has evolved significantly. To keep pace with this progress and driven by the strong determination of the European Stroke Organisation to further promote stroke management, education, and research, the European Stroke Organisation decided to delineate a detailed standard operating procedure for its guidelines. There are two important cornerstones in this standard operating procedure: The first is the implementation of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology for the development of its Guideline Documents. The second one is the decision of the European Stroke Organisation to move from the classical model of a single Guideline Document about a major topic (e.g. management of ischemic stroke) to focused modules (i.e. subdivisions of a major topic). This will enable the European Stroke Organisation to react faster when new developments in a specific stroke field occur and update its recommendations on the related module rather swiftly; with the previous approach of a single large Guideline Document, its entire revision had to be completed before an updated publication, delaying the production of up-to-date guidelines. After discussion within the European Stroke Organisation Guidelines Committee and significant input from European Stroke Organisation members as well as methodologists and analysts, this document presents the official standard operating procedure for the development of the Guideline Documents of the European Stroke Organisation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ntaios
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Stroke Center, Department of Neurology, Tel-Aviv Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Natan M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.affiliation: Stroke Unit, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Santa Maria della Misericordia Hospital, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caso
authors.affiliation: University of Copenhagen and Bispebjerg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Hanne
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Brussels, Center for Neurosciences Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.|Department of Neurology, UMCG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: De Keyser
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Christoph
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Diener
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Stroke Centre, Neurosciences Area - IdiPAZ (Health Research Institute), La Paz University Hospital, Autónoma University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Exuperio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Diez-Tejedor
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Hospital Santa Maria, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Gary A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, Klinikum Ludwigshafen, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grau
authors.affiliation: Neurointensive Care Unit, Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Emanuella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: INSERM U1171, University of Lille, Lille, France.
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leys
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Hospital Policlinico Umberto I, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Danilo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Toni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sainte-Anne Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turc
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van der Worp
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wahlgren
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Klinikum Frankfurt Höchst, Frankfurt, Germany.|Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Steiner
mesh_terms: D019468:Disease Management; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D017408:Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009938:Organizations / Q000592:standards*; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: European Stroke Organisation; guidelines; standard operating procedure