Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Treatment Programs

Maryland Brain Attack Center

UM Medical Center earns primary stroke center designation

The Maryland Brain Attack Center at the University of Maryland Medical System was created to provide the most advanced and innovative treatments to stroke and TIA patients throughout the state of Maryland.

The hub of the Center's strategy for acute stroke treatment is the Brain Attack Team^SM (BAT), a highly specialized team of neurologists, neurosurgeons, nurses and other health professionals who provide the rapid evaluation and initiation of treatment for brain attack patients, using the most advanced approaches and technologies.

The team offers immediate patient contact by a neurologist with specialized training in stroke care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No other medical center in the state offers this kind or level of service. Patients can be transported or transferred to the University of Maryland Medical Center from other hospitals using our Maryland ExpressCare ambulances or helicopter transport via MIEMSS.

The Brain Attack Team's cerebrovascular specialists ensure that diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients occurs immediately upon arrival to the medical center.

Members of the UM Brain Attack Team.

The focus of the Brain Attack Team is on the coordinated efforts of:

pre-hospital neurological consultation
critical care transport
Emergency Department evaluation
rapid initiation of the most advanced therapies and diagnosis
neurosurgery
vascular surgery
interventional neuroradiology
rehabilitation therapy

Special Programs

Please install flash player to see this video.

Hospital Virtual Tour

Related Content

Another component of The Maryland Brain Attack Center is the Rapid Assessment of Transient Ischemic Attack Etiologies (RATE), which was developed to evaluate patients with TIA and to identify risk factors and potential stroke causes and then quickly treat them to prevent an actual stroke. This rapid evaluation is performed within 24 hours and patients are provided secondary stroke prevention and follow-up.

The Rapid Assessment and Treatment of TIA Etiology (RATE) is an ultrafast emergency department workup and treatment program for patients who experience transient ischemic attack.

More rapid work-up and intervention result in less disability and more rapid advancement to rehabilitation and post-acute care services, which are provided through the University Rehabilitation Network. All levels of post-acute care are provided through the Network, ranging from home health services to subacute and acute rehabilitation as well as long term care.

Training Programs

The Maryland Brain Attack Center offer fellowships in cerebrovascular neurology with an emphasis on brain attack for physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Clinical Trial Research

Clinical trial research has resulted in the first FDA approved therapy for acute brain attack called Activase, (or t-PA, tissue plasminogen activator) which has been shown to reduce the chance of permanent disability following a stroke. However, the treatment must be administered within a golden time window, similar to that for a trauma victim.

Due to the highly specialized and efficient operation of the Brain Attack Team, Activase can be administered rapidly after careful evaluation to appropriate patients at The Maryland Brain Attack Center. Many promising therapies in clinical trials are also offered at the medical center for both ischemic and hemorrhagic types of stroke. The goal of the Brain Attack Team includes giving every patient the opportunity to have a new, innovative approach to their care.

Stroke Risk Assessment and Prevention

Still, the best way to reduce the disability from stroke is to prevent the stroke from occurring. A new plan for stroke risk assessment and prevention has been developed through The Maryland Brain Attack Center. This far-reaching plan includes a program for educating both health professionals and the public, and provides members of the community with free stroke risk assessment and follow-up for identified stroke risk factors.

This plan of prevention is provided by a collaboration of multiple disciplines at the medical center. Specialized surgical techniques such as carotid endarterectomy under regional anesthesia and other specialized endovascular procedures are performed after careful evaluation and consultation with surgical colleagues. As a result of these comprehensive pioneering efforts, patients of The Maryland Brain Attack Center have a shorter length of stay and lower cost for care as compared to years prior to the Center's initiation. The gains are measured best in reduced disability of those patients treated with these innovative therapies and inpatient satisfaction results (100% very good or exceptionally satisfied).

Signs of Stroke

Stroke is an emergency. Call 911 if you are experiencing signs of a stroke:

Severe headache and/or sudden loss of:

Vision
Speech
Strength
Balance
Sensation

Patient Conditions

Brain attack and ischemic stroke
Transient ischemic attacks
Vasculitis
Carotid and vertebral dissection
Cerebral venous thrombosis
Subarachnoid hemorrhages, including aneurysms
Intracerebral hemorrhage
Primary prevention of stroke in high risk patients, (asymptomatic carotid stenosis and sickle cell disease)

Comprehensive Evaluations

CT and CT angiography
MRI, including perfusion and diffusion sequences, and MRI angiography
Neuroangiography
Carotid duplex sonography
Transcranial doppler ultrasonography
Xenon-CT
SPECT

Specialized Treatments

Acute thrombolytic therapy with TPA
Gamma Knife
Interventional neuroradiology
Surgical treatment of carotid stenosis, aneurysms, and arteriovenous malformations
Dedicated intensive and intermediate care units
Comprehensive rehabilitation evaluation

Research Activities

Telemedicine for Brain Attack Consultation
Technologies for rapid evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of Brain Attack
Identification of new genetic and environmental risk factors for stroke
Studies of stroke in young adults
Mobile telemedicine for accelerated prehospital evaluation
Clinical trials of investigational drugs for acute stroke, and of strategies to prevent recurrent stroke and to improve recovery from stroke
Studies of outcome after stroke, including predictors of return to work after stroke
Studies of the role of exercise in recovery after stroke, including exercise-induced brain neuroplasticity

Services to Physicians

Brain Attack Team Consultation with acute stroke specialist 24 hours/day, 7 days per week, at Maryland ExpressCare, 410-328-1234
Specialty consultation for patients with complicated cerebrovascular disease
Multidisciplinary patient care conferences with medical, surgical and interventional radiology specialists
Coordinated stroke care from prevention through acute presentation rehabilitation and long term recover

To contact the Stroke Center, call (410) 328-5800; to contact the Brain Attack Center, call 410-328-3793.

This page was last updated on: May 13, 2009.

For more information about the University of Maryland Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, or to make an appointment, call the University Physicians Consultation and Referral Service at 1-800-492-5538 (patients) or 1-800-373-4111 (physicians).