Stroke in young Fabry patients
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Europe and a leading cause of acquired disability in adults. Each year, about 1,250,000 people experience stroke in Europe. Stroke is the second leading cause of dementia in western countries and the second leading cause of mortality worldwide (Murray et al., 1997). Current projections indicate a 52 % increase in cerebrovascular mortality by the year 2020 with over two thirds of cases occurring in the developing world.
Recent publications (Lancet 2005; 366: 1794-96) show that Fabry disease must be considered as possible cause for all cases of unexplained stroke in young patients, especially in cases with the combination of infarction in the vertebrobasilar artery system and proteinuria.
46 international neurological centres
are joining a multicenter study lead by the University of Rostock. The
goal of sifap (Stroke In young Fabry Patients) is to clarify the
prevalence of Fabry disease in young stroke patients, and to
characterize stroke rehabilitation in young patients with Fabry disease.
Recruitment successfully finished
In January 2010
the last patient was recruited for the sifap1 study. Thereby we finally reached
our collective ambitious aim to include 5,000 young stroke patients in this
great and fascinating scientific exploration. Taking into account the high
standard of quality of documentation we could experience in the SIFAP study, we
surely will not solely define prevalence rates of Fabry disease in this cohort
at the end. In tireless activity all collaborators provided unique amounts of
most valuable data, whose scientific impact on etiology, pathogenesis and risk
factors of stroke in young patients cannot be fully granted by now.
For all the
efforts made we would like to cordially thank all study centres, the members of
the Steering- and Biobanking-Committees, the diagnostic laboratories and the
sponsor of the study.
State of recruitment
