Approximately 700,000 cases stroke occur in the United States each year. Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability and the third most common cause of death.  The goal of treatment is to diagnose the cause of stroke and treat it as quickly as possible. The neurointerventional team works with a multidisciplinary team to treat and prevent acute stroke.

For stroke victims, the neurointerventionalist threads a tiny catheter to the site of the blood clot, which he then removes either mechanically or with a dissolving agent known as tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). If a severely narrowed vessel causes a stroke, the vessel can be opened to improve blood supply to the affected brain.

Since the prognosis for stroke victims is poor, stroke prevention is a main focus of the neurology team. Some of the neurointerventional procedures performed in stroke prevention include carotid artery stenting and intracranial artery stenting.

Frontal view of a vertebral artery angiogram showing clot in the basilar artery.

Basilar artery angiogram through microcatheter shows clot in top of basilar artery.

Vertebral artery angiogram after administration of tPA shows complete resolution of clot with normal flow in vessels.