Mission

The Comprehensive Stroke Program within the Department of Neurology at Wayne State University is one of the leading stroke programs in the United States. It is currently staffed by one vascular neurologist, three faculty in the associated neurocritical care program, two interventional neurologists, and two nurse coordinators.

The Comprehensive Stroke Program continues to serve as a regional leader in clinical service to provide the optimal care for patients with acute stroke and treatment strategies for stroke prevention. Over 1000 patients with stroke are seen each year in the outpatient vascular neurology clinic and over 400 per year are seen as inpatients. The outpatient stroke clinic serves as a referral center for patients from all parts of Michigan. The acute stroke team evaluates patients at the downtown Detroit Medical Center hospitals for acute treatment with "clot-busters" or clot-removal state of the arts treatments. The acute stroke team's capabilities were essential in the designation of Detroit Receiving Hospital and Harper University Hospital as a JCAHO-certified primary stroke center. All Detroit Medical Center adult acute bed hospitals have  become certified Primary Stroke Centers.

In the research area, previous and current funding has included attempts to identify African Americans at increased risk for stroke as well as efforts to improve the quality of stroke care in Michigan and nationally. A recent publication focused on identifying factors associated with misdiagnosis of stroke in young adults. We have participated in several major clinical trials which have evaluated new strategies for stroke prevention and these studies have been published in reputed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of the American Medical Association.

Current areas of research interest includes carotid disease and  acute stroke treatments and investigation of new blood thinners for stroke prevention. A novel approach is also being tested to promote motor recovery from a recent stroke.

The stroke team works collaboratively with Nerosurgery, Neurocritical care, Endovascular Interventionalist, and Rehabilitation experts.  Teaching medical students, and training Fellows and Residents are an important part of the mission of the program.