This timely and thorough book focuses on pharmacotherapeutical strategies for facilitating the functional recovery of patients with stroke-related neurological impairments. Clinicians should find the sections on measuring stroke-related impairments and disabilities, clinical data of drug effects on recovery, and the use of antidepressant medications during the recovery period, to be of particular practical interest. By providing a broad overview of current studies - and an insight analysis of their clinical implications - the reader will surely gain a more confident understanding of how these emerging pharmacotherapies can work to enhance the recovery of stroke patients.

Comprises 14 contributions addressing the care of patients with cerebrovascular disease. Topics include brain injury and theories of recovery, acetylcholine and recovery of function following brain injury, neurotrophic factors and transplants, the role of neuroimaging in stroke recovery, potential impact of drugs on poststroke motor recovery, and antidepressant effects on recovery.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

"The last part of this work is of practical interest to the clinician. It is devoted to the impact on motor function and speech of new drugs currently used in neurological rehabilitation.

"There is no book to our knowledge like this one. It opens roads for interesting reflection and, finally, addresses itself to a large public of both basic neurologists and clinicians." (REEDOC Bulletin)

"...it provides a broad overview of the presently available pharmacotherapeutic possibilities for promoting functional post-stroke recovery that will hopefully be improved in the future based on experimental and clinical studies."

--Reviewer: K.A. Jellinger, Vienna, Austria(European Journal of Neurology)

"After I had realized the nature of the content of this book, I soon found myself unable to put it down. (I finished it leisurely in three days.) Much of the information that is being referred to in ‘bits and pieces’ during seminars, guest lectures, and grand rounds is here in more elaborate and complete form. This is not a book to sit on a shelf for reference either, as technology quickly will overtake these concepts. I think, though, that anyone interested in what’s been done in the past, what’s going on currently, and where we’re headed in this exciting field of neurobiochemical research will enjoy reading this book. To date, I am not aware of another text that compares to this one." (Doody’s Review Service)

"This remarkable book can be recommended mainly to departments specialized for the treatment of MCP, neurologists, rehabilitation workers and investigators in the field of fundamental research." (Czech and Slovak Neurology and Neurosurgery)

"Overall, this book proves a detailed account of the concepts of the neurobiology underlying recovery after stroke and I would recommend it to scientists and clinicians interested in the fields of brain ischaemia, injury, neuro-protection and neuro-rehabilitation." (British Journal of Neurosurgery)

Contributors.

Preface.

1. Brain Injury and Theories of Recovery (D.G. Stein).

2. Mechanisms of Noradrenergic Modulation of Physical Therapy: Effects on Functional Recovery After Cortical Injury (D.M. Feeney).

3. Acetylocholinle and Recovery of Function Following Brain Injury (R.M. Saponjic, M.R. Hoane, T.M. Barth).

4. GABAergic Drugs and Neuroplasticity after Brain Injury: Impact on Functional Recovery (T. Schallert, T.D. Hernandez).

5. Effects of Glutamate Antagonists on the Recovery and Maintenance of Behavioral Functions After Brain Injury (T.M. Barth, M.R. Hoane, S. Barbay).

6. Neurotrophic Factors and Transplants (B.B. Johansson).

7. Ganglioside Treatments in Animal Models of Stroke (G.L. Dunbar).

8. CDPD-Choline (Citicoline): Potential Mechanisms of Action and Preliminary Results in Human Stroke (I. Lopez-Coviella, W.M. Clark, S. Warach, B. Sandage, J. Agut, J.A. Ortiz, R.J. Wurtman)\.

9. The Role of Neuroimaging in Stroke Recovery (Y. Samson, P. Belin, P. Remy, M. Zilbovicius, L. Spelle, G. Rancurel).

10. Measuring Recovery of Function After Stroke: Clinical and Measurement Issues in Selecting Stroke Outcome Measures in Clinical Trials (P.W. Duncan).

11. Potential Impact of Drugs on Post-Stroke Motor Recovery (L.B. Goldstein).

12. Pharmacotherapy in the Treatment of Aphasia (D. Walker-Batson).

13. Antidepressant Effects on Recovery (I. Miyai, M. Reding).

14. Clnical Studies of the Effects of GM1 Ganglioside on Recovery From Ischemic Stroke (M. Alter).

Index.