Einstein offers a complete continuum of care for stroke and vascular disease, from emergency medical treatment with the latest clot-busting drug to post-stroke rehabilitation care at world-renowned MossRehab. When blood vessels in the brain burst, become blocked or grow in an abnormal way, stroke can be the devastating and sometimes fatal result. Blood vessels feed brain tissue with oxygen and nutrients. Stroke starves brain tissue of the oxygen it needs to live. This can result in brain damage that causes paralysis, loss of motor skills, speech and language deficits or even death.

With an emphasis on preventing future cerebrovascular problems, the skilled surgeons in Albert Einstein Medical Center’s Division of Neurosurgery use the latest surgical and non-surgical techniques to remove blood clots in the brain and to treat conditions that can cause stroke. Click a link below to learn more.

Aneurysms

Arteriovenous Malformations

Carotid Disease

Treatments

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Aneurysms occur when a segment of a blood vessel in the brain widens and expands, sometimes like a balloon. This expansion continues to weaken the wall of the blood vessel, making it thinner and thinner. Sometimes the blood vessel wall becomes so thin that it bursts (ruptures) and leaks blood into the brain, causing what is known as a subarachnoid hemorrhage, where blood becomes trapped between the brain and the thin wall surrounding it. The chance of death or serious disability from ruptured aneurysms may be as high as 50 percent. Using the definitive treatment of cerebral aneurysms — craniotomy and “clipping”— our neurosurgeons can save patients’ lives and eliminate the risk of further hemorrhage. If an aneurysm can be identified prior to rupture, elective surgery using an advanced technique with low operative risk (such as endovascular coiling) can successfully eliminate the risk of rupture.

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Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) occur when one of the brain’s blood vessels doesn’t connect the way it should with other veins in the brain. AVMs allow blood from the heart to bypass the brain’s smaller blood vessels (capillaries) that normally deliver oxygen and nutrients to the brain tissues. This can result in neurological deficits. The detoured blood puts pressure on the malformed blood vessel which can swell up and press on brain tissue, resulting in seizures. While hemorrhage of AVMs is rare, it is a life-threatening emergency. The goal of treatment is to remove or cut off the blood supply to the AVM, preventing it from growing and eliminating the risk of rupture. Einstein neurosurgeons use non-surgical techniques such as radiosurgery and embolization to close these abnormal blood vessels and prevent future stroke.

Carotid disease affects the carotid arteries in the neck. These vessels carry oxygen through the bloodstream from the heart and lungs to the head. Diseased carotid arteries can harden and narrow, and plaques can build up inside them. Such blockages can decrease or even stop blood flow to the brain, causing a stroke. Clot-busting drugs ( intravascular thrombolytic therapy) and plaque-removal procedures can help some patients decrease their risk of stroke due to carotid artery disease. When non-surgical techniques are not the best option, Einstein neurosurgeons perform carotid endarterectomy to prevent stroke.

Information on stroke from our Health Library.

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