Italian SPREAD guidelines: from past to future

The development of the Italian Guidelines on Stroke involved a multidisciplinary working group, named the SPREAD Collaboration (Stroke PREvention and Awareness Diffusion), composed at present of different professional organisations and two patients' associations. The group was organised into operative subcommittees. Each subcommittee dealt with a different area covered by the guidelines and was composed of 5-10 experts in the specific field. A scientific task force and an editorial board were responsible for coordinating and reviewing the texts progressively processed and produced.