Cerebrolysin^® included into German Neurorehab Guidelines

In July 2020, the German DGNR (German Society for Neurorehabilitation) included Cerebrolysin^® into their official guidelines – it is the best ranked medication.

The committee highlighted specifically that the successful treatment concept in the CARS-trial should be used for patients suffering from arm paresis post-stroke. In the S3 guideline “Rehabilitative therapy for arm paresis following a stroke” they recommended the following treatment:

Cerebrolysin^® should be used routinely as soon as possible and for 21 days following the clinical evidence published.

Arm paresis is one of the most common post-stroke complications, affecting about 30-40 % of all stroke patients. Improvement of motor functions after stroke - especially arm and hand functions - facilitates important activities of daily living and will ultimately improve patient’s quality of life significantly.

The inclusion into this major treatment guideline with a high recommendation level is the highest achievable evidence (see figure). You can find the guideline here: https://www.awmf.org/leitlinien/detail/ll/080-001.html

When the CARS-Study was published in 2015 in “Stroke” and when the ensuing Meta-Analysis by Bornstein et al. 2018 demonstrated excellent efficacy in acute ischemic stroke Cerebrolysin^® was included as the only officially named drug in the Austrian Rehabilitation Guideline of the Austrian Stroke Society in 2018. Now this more recent evaluation of Cerebrolysin^® evidence led to the inclusion into the German DGNR guidelines. The treatment strategy of combining neurorehabilitation with Cerebrolysin^® has been established without any doubts and should encourage clinicians worldwide to establish a treatment routine for stroke patients.