• Christian H Nolte, Arno Villringer, and Kompetenznetz Schlaganfall.
• Klinik für Neurologie, Charité Campus Mitte, Schumannstrasse 20/21, 10117 Berlin. christian.nolte@charite.de
• Med Klin. 2006 Mar 15; 101 (3): 250-4.

BackgroundStroke is the most frequent neurologic disease, one of the most frequent reasons for disability and the third most frequent cause of death in Germany. Only the coordination of prevention, therapy in the acute setting and rehabilitation will improve the socioeconomic burden of stroke.Implementation And ResultsThe Competence Net Stroke (www.schlaganfallnetz.de) substantially contributes to these efforts by linking leading research groups together, improving communication, exchanging knowledge between clinicians, researchers and patients, as well as advancing public health science and quality assurance. Since the initiation of the Competence Net Stroke by the German Ministry of Education and Research in 1999, researchers and clinicians have implemented and expanded corporate databanks that jointly answer pressing questions in stroke imaging, epidemiology, and genetics. The progress that has been made is largely due to the formation of joint standard protocols at several independent institutions. The multicenter approach enabled the competence net to build up specialized criteria in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These criteria guide the clinician to those patients, who profit from thrombolysis beyond the 3-h time window. In addition, the Competence Net Stroke succeeded in reliably detecting cerebral hemorrhage with MRI.Progression And PerspectivesSince 2005, and the beginning of the third funding period, the Competence Net Stroke consists of nine sub-nets. The integrative, rather than dominating, structure eases flexible reactions to new developments and findings in research. The Competence Net Stroke can more straightforwardly adopt new, promising research areas and end funding of those which are unsuccessful. The future and continuity of the Competence Net Stroke are secured by the acquisition of alternative funding such as "Sonderforschungsbereiche", the sixth European framework program, industrial partners, and health insurance.

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