SIR offers five-day course that covers all aspects of acute stroke management

Stroke is third leading cause of death in the United States; SIR course Oct. 24-28 in Dallas, Texas, covers all aspects of acute stroke management; online registration now open

Catheter Lysis of Thromboembolic Stroke (CLOTS)-an intensive five-day course offered by the Society of Interventional Radiology Oct. 24-28 in Dallas, Texas-provides interventional radiologists, neurointerventionalists, vascular neurologists and fellows-in-training with the unique educational opportunity to review, observe and discuss all aspects of acute stroke management.

"Stroke is the third-leading cause of death in the United States, with about 600,000 new strokes reported each year. The good news is that treatments to reduce damage caused by a stroke are available, but that treatment has to be delivered quickly-and CLOTS covers related topics for those doctors looking to incorporate acute ischemic stroke care into their practice and/or upgrade their knowledge," said Carl M. Black, M.D., an interventional radiologist/neuroradiologist at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo. "The Society of Interventional Radiology and its CLOTS stroke experts will focus on the pathophysiology, assessment and medical management of stroke patients; cerebral vascular imaging; review of evidence from major clinical trials; technique; and the stroke team concept," he added.

CLOTS-with an emphasis on appropriate patient selection-includes lectures, panel discussions, teaching files, case scenarios and hands-on interaction with flow models. The course is also useful for nurses and technologists who want to increase their knowledge concerning the fundamentals of stroke and emergency stroke therapy. CLOTS provides educational content that a physician is required to know to meet the SIR Training Guidelines for Intra-arterial Catheter-directed Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke.

Extensive case presentations will be highlighted with workshops that include training in clinical neurological assessment and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; hands-on personalized training on CT perfusion workstations; and hands-on full-scale training on vascular flow models utilizing sheaths, guide catheters, microcatheters and clot retrieval devices from leg to brain. Multiple computer simulators will also be available for practice. Course topics also include imaging triage of stroke; drugs used in interventional procedures; how "time of onset" enters into treatment decisions; and the nuts and bolts of setting up a stroke center.