Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Treatment Programs

Maryland Brain Attack and Stroke Center

UM Medical Center earns primary stroke center designation

A brain attack is the early phase -- first few hours -- of a stroke, when doctors and researchers can attempt to correct the effects that can lead to disability. A stroke describes the period after the first few hours when doctors can't alter the damaging effects in physiology that lead to permanent disability.

The Maryland Stroke Center is a regional center of excellence in stroke care and research. It is the first center in Maryland dedicated to comprehensive care of patients with cerebrovascular disease.

The Center's Brain Attack Team is a 24-hour/7-day-a-week multispecialty team developed for rapid evaluation and treatment of patients with stroke and transient ischemic attacks.

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Hospital Virtual Tour

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The Maryland Stroke Center provides comprehensive state-of-the-art management of patients with vascular causes of neurologic disorders.

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).