Weighing stroke risk and treatment

Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, assistant professor of neurological surgery, will lead a five-year study to assess blood flow and stroke risk. Ischemic strokes — the type caused by clots rather than bleeds in the brain — account for 80 percent of all strokes. Advances in endovascular techniques, such as placing a stent in a vessel, provide new treatment options for patients with stroke. But these interventions carry risks, and physicians don’t always know which patients are appropriate candidates for these procedures. The $2.1 million multiinstitutional study, funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, will evaluate imaging options and medication therapies over a minimum 12-month period. The research team includes (l-r, back) Linda Rose-Finnell, Karriem Watson and Nada Mlinarevich.

View all in the sampling of the articles in the 2008-09 Annual Report.