Your care at the Stroke & Cerebrovascular Center is always shaped by the latest and best medical advances because our experts continuously engage in research into improved care options for neurological disorders. Many medical and surgical interventions now considered standard were originally part of research studies accomplished right here at University Hospitals.
In addition, our cutting-edge clinical trials allow patients to receive treatments that might not otherwise be available.
Highlights of our research program include:
- The Center’s connection with the Case Western Reserve University Medical School, which allow basic science research to be quickly translated to findings that will improve patient care in the future. For example, the Center’s Vascular Neurosurgery Program is participating in the NINDS Carotid Occlusion Surgery Study (COSS) to determine the effectiveness of EC-IC arterial bypass for treating stroke.
- Current NIH-sponsored protocol trials at UH for stroke patients include using hypothermia and employing albumin infusion to increase the perfusion to the brain.
- DynaCT capability (available by summer 2007), allowing us to obtain soft tissue information while performing interventional procedures, which improves our decision-making and provides better patient management.
Other important cerebrovascular research being pursued includes:
- The role of inflammation in acute stroke and recovery
- The molecular consequences of ischemic brain injury
- Pre-conditioning as a way to reduce brain injury from ischemic stroke
- New and better techniques for management of acute ischemic stroke (Interventional Management of Stroke Trial III / NIH)