The American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology (ASITN) recently changed its name to the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS). This name change is meant to reflect the evolution of the neurointerventional field to include specialists who are not radiologists (ie, neurosurgeons and neurologists). The American Journal of Neuroradiology (AJNR) was formerly the official journal of the ASITN. With this change of name, the SNIS launched the Journal of Neurointerventional Surgery. Because most practicing neurointerventionalists are radiologists, AJNR will continue to have an important role in publishing neurointerventional articles. Moreover, AJNR will cooperate with the SNIS in jointly publishing important documents, as exemplified by “Reporting Standards for Endovascular Repair of Saccular Intracranial Cerebral Aneurysms” and “Performance and Training Standards for Endovascular Ischemic Stroke Treatment,” so as to maximize the dissemination of information that has an impact on how interventional neuroradiology is practiced. Publication of these articles will occur only in an electronic form, and they may be accessed at www.ajnr.org.
These documents are the efforts of multisociety collaborations that intend to establish basic standards for practice. They strive to bring together the multiple specialties involved in endovascular neurointerventions to create reference standards that relate to fundamental issues such as training, procedure performance, and reporting. The “Reporting Standards for Endovascular Repair of Saccular Intracranial Cerebral Aneurysms” was written under the auspices of the SNIS, the Society of Interventional Radiology, the Joint Section on Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery of the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons and Congress of Neurologic Surgeons, and the Section of Stroke and Interventional Neurology of the American Academy of Neurology. The “Performance and Training Standards for Endovascular Ischemic Stroke Treatment” was produced by the Neurovascular Coalition, which consists of the SNIS, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neurologic Surgeons/Congress of Neurologic Surgeons Cerebrovascular Section, and the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology.
The “Reporting Standards for Endovascular Repair of Saccular Intracranial Cerebral Aneurysms” is important because it addresses significant inconsistencies in nomenclature and definition for research and reporting purposes. This article will provide for consistency of reporting on imaging in clinical trials and observational studies involving cerebral aneurysms, thereby helping different researchers publish results that are directly comparable.
The “Performance and Training Standards for Endovascular Ischemic Stroke Treatment” defines what constitutes adequate training to perform neurointerventional procedures in patients with acute ischemic stroke and what performance standards should be adopted to assess outcomes. This is an especially important and timely accomplishment because numerous physicians now wish to become involved in endovascular stroke therapy. Such a document establishes basic guidelines to promote a higher quality of patient care as the number of providers increases.
Despite the recent changes adopted by the SNIS, AJNR will continue its role in promoting better science and better patient care by participating in the dissemination of important articles.
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