[Guidelines for the management of stroke].

For the evidence-based management of stroke, the first guideline was produced at 1994 from the American Heart Association, and also at 2000 from the United Kingdom. However, there is no such guidelines created in Japan yet. Due to the differences in therapeutic agents, disease subtypes, and races between our and other countries, we must create our own guidelines, taking into consideration of the evidences and situations from/in Japan. In this presentation, we addressed the following issues; 1) Historical overview regarding the evidence-based guidelines for the management of stroke. 2) Details about the Japan Joint Committee on Guidelines for the Management of Stroke (Chairman: Yukito Shinohara, Secretary-General: Masao Nagayama) which was established in October 2000 with the initiative of stroke-related societies in Japan. 3) Analysis of the recommendations and literatures describe-cited in the first draft of the Guidelines and the Evidence tables. 4) Problems and future directions in the therapeutic research of stroke management.