Resources to help understand stroke and carotid artery disease

The Society of Interventional Radiology offers numerous resources-including publications and the first-ever Catheter Lysis of Thromboembolic Stroke (CLOTS) course-for interventional radiologists, neuroradiologists, neurointerventionists, body interventionalists, and IR and INR fellows to aid in the understanding of stroke and carotid artery disease.

These publications are welcome additions to libraries for those who want to learn more about minimally invasive treatments for carotid artery disease and stroke, which is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Statistics show that every 45 seconds someone in this country has a stroke and every three minutes someone dies from a stroke.

SIR, a national organization of physicians, scientists and allied health professionals dedicated to improving public health through pioneering advances in image-guided therapy, offers the below resources.

"Carotid Disease: The Role of Imaging in Diagnosis and Management" (Gillard, Graves, Hatsukami and Yuan, 2006, hardbound, 556 pages, 184 illustrations): This book offers comprehensive coverage of the pathogenesis and management of carotid disease with specific focus on the role imaging has to play in the early recognition of symptomatic and asymptomatic disease as well as the treatment of the developed condition. It includes technological advances in imaging modalities that now allow detailed analysis of the disease progression, the prediction of critical events leading to a stroke, and the identification of the most effective surgical or other interventional treatments. SIR member, $221; nonmember, $245

"3D Angiographic Atlas of Neurovascular Anatomy and Pathology" (Borden, 2006, hardbound, 284 pages, 609 illustrations): This is the first atlas to present neurovascular information and images based on catheter 3D rotational angiographic studies. In it, 3D images are extensively labeled and juxtaposed with conventional 2D angiograms for orientation and comparison. SIR member, $170; nonmember, $190

"Cardiovascular Haemodynamics and Doppler Waveforms Explained" (Oates, 2008, paperback, 192 pages): This book provides the necessary understanding of the physical principles of blood flow in the body to produce clear and diagnostically secure scans; emphasizes practical application of the principles used in obtaining and interpreting Doppler scans in clinical practice; and includes explanatory line diagrams and real Doppler images. SIR member, $55; nonmember, $60.

SIR is holding the Catheter Lysis of Thromboembolic Stroke (CLOTS) course-an intensive five-day course featuring top interventional radiologists, neurointerventionists, neurologists and neuroradiologists offering doctors the opportunity to gain and/or upgrade skills to incorporate acute ischemic stroke care into their practice. CLOTS is designed to meet the training requirements in the new SIR Training Guidelines for Intra-arterial Catheter-Directed Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke.

The course incorporates lectures, panel discussions, teaching files, case scenarios and hands-on interaction with flow models. It is designed specifically for doctors with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education training and experience in neuroimaging, catheter-directed cerebral angiography and subselective endovascular catheter-directed therapy.