Stroke

Research

Experts at the UCSF Stroke Sciences Group perform groundbreaking epidemiological research on rates and risk factors for childhood stroke, with a goal of developing effective strategies for stroke prevention in children. Current research projects include:

• Determining how infection plays a role in the pathogenesis of childhood stroke.
• Investigating the cause of blood vessel disease called arteriopathy in children with stroke.
• Identifying predictors of stroke recurrence in children.
• Understanding ethnic disparities in childhood stroke risk.
• Measuring the burden of childhood stroke, both in terms of financial costs and the impact on a childs quality of life.
• Identifying barriers that prevent the implementation of an effective primary stroke prevention method in children with sickle cell disease who have a 10 percent chance of suffering a stroke during childhood.

UCSF pediatric stroke experts collaborate with UCSF colleagues dedicated to stroke research in the following areas:

• The Center for Cerebrovascular Research, one of the country's few centers dedicated to arteriovenous malformation (AVM) research, studies the biology and natural history of AVMs, arteriovenous fistulas and aneurysms.
• Researchers in the Neonatal Brain Disorders Laboratory are leaders in the field of neonatal stroke. Currently, they are investigating why ischemia has different effects on the brains of young people versus old.
• UCSF investigators are founding members of the International Pediatric Stroke Study, a worldwide effort to expand knowledge regarding childhood stroke.

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated October 2, 2008