​Stroke Intervention and Intra-Arterial Thrombosis

UPMC’s neurosurgery and neurology experts are among the national leaders in stroke intervention therapy techniques. We employ a team-based approach to achieve the best possible outcomes for people suffering from stroke.

Our stroke patients receive world-class care, starting at the emergency room and continuing through:

• Radiology and imaging services
• Inpatient care and surgery
• Rehabilitation services

Therapies for Treating Stroke

At UPMC, we offer advanced or investigational stroke interventions and therapies that are not widely available, including intra-arterial thrombolytic treatment, stroke neurosurgery, and neural implantation.

Intra-arterial thrombolytic treatment

• Uses a long tube threaded through a blood vessel and into the brain to deliver thrombolytic (clot-busting) drugs, such as tPA, directly to the site of a blood clot causing a stroke.
• Because this method delivers a relatively high dose of medication directly to the clot, it may be more effective and cause fewer side effects than delivering thrombolytic drugs to the whole body via an IV infusion.

Stroke neurosurgery

• Concentrates on surgically bypassing and opening blocked vessels threatening the brain, or controlling bleeding in some types of hemorrhagic strokes.

Mechanical thrombectomy using a stent retriever

• In mechanical thrombectomy, physicians can remove the blood clot manually to restore blood flow. A catheter is threaded through the artery to the site of the clot, and a stent is deployed to capture and retrieve it.
• Learn more about mechanical thrombectomy using a stent retriever at the UPMC Stroke Institute.

Neural implantation for stroke

• An investigational therapy, first performed at UPMC, that uses minimally invasive surgery to place engineered nerve cells in stroke-damaged areas of the brain.
• UPMC studies of neural implantation have provided the first preliminary evidence that implanted cells can grow and take the place of nerve cells killed by a stroke.