An investigation into brain damage following treatments to remove fatty deposits from the artery to the brain

Institution:
The National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London– the ICSS MRI Substudy
Principal Investigator:
Professor Martin Brown
Region: London
Grant value: £18,000 over 12 months
Start date: January 2008
Status: ongoing

The build up of fatty deposits in the carotid artery causes about one in five strokes. Carotid disease may be treated surgically or by the use of a stent, but these treatments themselves carry a risk of causing strokes. The proposed research investigates disorders of brain circulation that may arise as a complication of these treatments.

Patients undergoing surgery or stenting therapy of carotid narrowing will be investigated before and after the intervention with modern imaging techniques, which are able to demonstrate small areas of brain damage in the brain from the treatment, even in patients who do not experience any symptoms.

The project will investigate in which treatment situations brain damage occurs, and how the brain damage seen by the imaging corresponds to the risk of having a stroke. Depending on the results, the imaging techniques may be used to monitor the risk of carotid interventions in future trials.

Scientific Title: Ischaemic brain injury following protected and unprotected stenting versus endarterectomy for symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis

Classification:
Prevention, Imaging