ESOC 2026: What to Expect in Maastricht

The 12th European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) takes place next week in Maastricht, the Netherlands, running from May 6-8.

With around 4,200 participants from nearly 100 countries expected to attend, the meeting will cover a wide range of topics related to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of stroke.

I’ll be making the trek to the meeting to cover the latest clinical trial results and other research related to cerebrovascular research and clinical care. You can reach me via email in the lead up to the meeting or on-site either to talk about any of the sessions or just to say hello. I’m looking forward to connecting with many of you there.

Science will be delivered across six tracks: allied healthcare, cardiology/internal medicine, neurointervention/neuroradiology, neurology, neurorehabilitation, and neurosurgery.

On the first day, Wednesday, May 5, the official welcome session will include trials focused on optimizing reperfusion therapy in acute ischemic stroke. Attendees will hear results from the EXTEND-IA DNASE trial of dornase alfa as an adjunct to thrombolysis in patients with large-vessel occlusions, the MASTERSTROKE trial of systolic BP management in patients undergoing thrombectomy under general anesthesia, the TECNO trial of adjunct intra-arterial tenecteplase for incomplete reperfusion after thrombectomy, two Chinese trials examining the impact of intra-arterial cooling during thrombectomy, and more.

The large clinical studies session on the second day, Thursday, May 6, will explore expanded indications for mechanical thrombectomy. A large meta-analysis with patient-level data from the ATLAS Collaboration is examining the impact of the procedure in patients with large-core ischemic strokes, LATE-MT is evaluating thrombectomy in a very late time window (up to 48 hours after stroke onset), and MILD-MT is studying the procedure in patients with mild symptoms. There will also be findings from the CRAFT trial of intensive BP control for cardiovascular risk reduction in patients with atrial fibrillation, the CASES trial of carotid artery stenting during thrombectomy for acute stroke, the DISTALS trial of a low-profile stent retriever for patients with medium-vessel occlusions, and other trials.

The meeting closes on Friday, May 7, with a final large clinical trials session with investigations of rarer clinical conditions and various pharmacological regimens. There will be additional data from the TRIDENT trial delving into whether intensive BP-lowering prevents cognitive decline and dementia after intracerebral hemorrhage, results from the TNK-MeVO trial of tenecteplase in an expanded time window for patients with distal occlusions, and findings from several studies evaluating the impact of various drugs, including tirofiban, ticagrelor, glenzocimab, and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, in various scenarios.

The two late-breaking trial sessions will be held Thursday and Friday morning, covering topics like prehospital triage for suspected stroke, thrombolysis, thrombectomy, management of antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy, BP control, vascular access for carotid stenting, digital tools for stroke prevention, AF detection, additional analyses of the OCEANIC-STROKE trial.

Beyond the results of major research, ESOC attendees will find teaching courses, hands-on workshops, fireside chats, posters, and an innovation session. Other highlights include joint sessions on pushing the frontiers of endovascular treatment with the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy and on the brain-heart interaction with the European Society of Cardiology.