Recent technological advances in neuroimaging offer important insights into acute ischemia, yet numerous questions abound and evidence to support innovative therapeutic interventions is lacking. This book addresses current limitations in the management of patients with stroke, and explores potential avenues for future breakthroughs in both diagnosis and treatment. For example, while many experimental agents have been used to avert or reduce ischemic injury in the brain, only recently has clinical trial design implemented neuroimaging techniques to select optimal candidates for such specific treatments. Diagnostic strategies may identify larger populations for acute treatment, tailor therapeutic approaches to specific individuals, delineate novel therapeutic targets, and enhance management of each patient at successive stages of ischemia. Future therapies will founded on multimodal and multidisciplinary care. In this text, each successive chapter covers a particular topic from the onset of ischemia to prevention of recurrent events. Diagnostic modalities and innovative imaging approaches are discussed, including ultrasound, CT, MRI and angiography.
All of these topics on diagnostic strategies are considered with respect to the ultimate objective of broadening current therapeutic strategies for ischemia.