The recent development of therapy shows a possibility to improve neurological deficits in the acute stroke patients. According to the development of the therapy, it has been desirable that an appropriate system managed by the expert medical staff should be applied for the treatment of stroke patients, especially for treatment of acute patients. Stroke care unit (SCU) has been applied as the intensive care unit for acute stroke patients. In the past, the efficacy of SCU was not confirmed statistically to decrease the mortality rate of acute stroke. Recently, SCU is required to treat acute stroke patients, especially for carrying out effective therapies in the restricted acute stage. SCU is the special unit for stroke patients, and expert medical staff must be needed. In our hospital, we have had neurological intensive care unit (NCU) from 1969, but we had not doctor team managing the unit nor any definite guidline for the treatment of acute stroke patients. In 1997, we established the department of strokology, which was constituted by both of neurologists and neurosurgeons. Doctors of department of strokology treat stroke patients in SCU under the definite guidline of stroke management. Our guidline is to be revised based on the evaluation of outcome of our patients. We consider that SCU managed by expert medical staff under a definite guidline is necessary to improve the clinical outcome of stroke patients.
