Cerebrovascular Division

The Division of Cerebrovascular Surgery has a two-fold mission: (1) to treat and manage patients with cerebrovascular lesions and (2) to probe the fundamentals of cerebrovascular anatomy and physiology so that more effective treatments can be developed.

As a vital component of the UC Cerebrovascular Disease and Stroke Center, together with the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Team, which pioneered the use of tPA for acute stroke management, the division works closely with neurocritical care physicians, stroke neurologists and neuroradiologists in an effort to diagnose cerebrovascular disease and to treat patients surgically and/or with endovascular techniques.

Residents’ exposure to surgery, initially observational, becomes increasingly hands-on as their residencies progress and their skills develop. At the completion of their training, residents are capable of participating in surgeries that target conditions such as uncomplicated aneurysms and carotid stenosis.

The division features the first cerebrovascular surgery fellowship ever accredited by the Society of Neurological Surgeons. The accreditation, established in 2002, heightens the division’s reputation for excellence in cerebrovascular surgery.

Committed to scholarly activities, the division has an active research arm that focuses on the science of cerebral vessels. Unraveling the mechanism of vasospasm is of particular interest, and the effective treatment of vasospasm is a high-priority goal. The division also participates in clinical trials involving the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage and aneurysms and the development of endovascular devices.

Anatomical and surgical studies are conducted in the Goodyear Microsurgery Laboratory and the Good Samaritan Microvascular Laboratory. These facilities allow residents and fellows to learn surgical anatomy and to practice their microvascular skills in a simulated surgical setting.

In July 2011, we hosted the 11th International Conference on Neurovascular Events after Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Cincinnati Ohio. The proceedings were published in Acta Neurochirurgica Supplementum 115.