A stroke happens when blood flow to a part of the brain stops. A stroke is sometimes called a "brain attack". If blood flow is stopped for longer than a few seconds, the brain cannot get blood and oxygen. Brain cells can die, causing permanent damage.
There are two types of strokes; ischemic and hemorrhagic. An ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke. Ischemia is a medical term that means an inadequate blood supply. Therefore, an ischemic stroke occurs when there is a blockage of a blood vessel in the brain. This blocks blood carrying oxygen and nutrients from reaching the area of the brain that the blood vessel supplies. The blockage can be caused by a blood clot that is formed in the heart and then travels to the brain, from cholesterol plaque buildup in the blood vessels, or when small vessels in our brain become damaged causing them to collapse. A hemorrhagic stroke is when a blood vessel in the brain burst or ruptures, thereby impeding blood flow to the brain. This can be caused by high blood pressure or abnormalities of the blood vessels, such as an aneurysm.
Programs + Services
Tufts MC Vascular Surgery manages arterial and venous diseases using innovative surgical techniques at our downtown Boston hospital.
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The Neurocritical Care Program is located in downtown Boston. Our expertise focuses on treating and helping someone cope with a major brain injury or illness.
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Tufts Medical Center offers comprehensive stroke treatment, prevention, therapy and long-term management for a wide range of cerebrovascular disorders.
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Explore the Stroke and Young Adults Program at Tufts Medical Center, helping young stroke survivors navigate their lives after their illness.
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Our Neurovascular Surgery Program treats various diseases that occur within the blood vessels. Learn more about cutting edge minimally invasive treatment we offer.
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Research + Clinical Trials
The purpose of this research is to enhance and support our understanding and evaluating actual response behaviors of cognitive disability in realistic tasks. We hope to obtain more information about the response behaviors to stimuli during simulated driving of a typical cohort compared to post-stroke cohorts.
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The objective of this study is to compare the safety and effectiveness of the Route 92 Medical Reperfusion System to predicate AXS Vecta Aspiration System.
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The objective of this study is to investigate whether percutaneous PFO closure with the Occlutech Flex II PFO Occluder is non-inferior to the AMPLATZER™ PFO Occluder and Gore® Cardioform Septal Occluder in closure of the PFO, prevention of recurrent embolic stroke, and device/procedure related Serious Adverse Events (SAE)
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The purpose of this study is to learn if asundexian is safe for the participants, how it affects the body, and to look at how well it works to prevent future ischemic strokes in participants who already had had an acute non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke or high-risk TIA.
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This is a single-arm, observational, feasibility study to evaluate if the Halo Alert System can be used in the future to detect stroke events in individuals at risk for stroke wearing the Halo Alert System overnight. The Halo Alert System consists of an EEG sensor headband (Muse-S headband from Interaxon, Inc., Toronto Canada) paired with a data transfer device (Zeit Loop, Zeit Medical, Inc., Redwood City, CA).
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The purpose of this study is to see if the study drug, elezanumab, is safe and able to improve cognitive and/or motor functioning in an individual following the occurrence of acute ischemic stroke. This is a 52-week, Phase 2a, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, multicenter proof-of concept study.
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The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) with positive airway pressure starting shortly after acute ischemic stroke or high risk TIA (1) reduces recurrent stroke, acute coronary syndrome, and all-cause mortality 6 months after the event, and (2) improves stroke outcomes at 3 months in patients who experienced an ischemic stroke.
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The purpose of this research study is to explore the challenges of recognizing stroke in young adults, the process of making treatment decisions, and the patient’s understanding of the risk of recurrence and long term consequences of stroke. This study consists of a 30 to 60 minute interview of patients with prior stroke (ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or intracerebral hemorrhage) who were 18-50 years of age at the time of stroke onset.
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Abbott developed the AMPLATZER™ PFO Occluder as a minimally invasive, transcatheter PFO closure treatment to further reduce the risk of recurrent stroke among patients with PFO and cryptogenic stroke beyond that achieved with medical management. This additional risk reduction is achieved by blocking the pathway for a venous embolism from reaching the body's arterial system and the brain.
The safety and effectiveness of the AMPLATZER™ PFO Occluder was evaluated in RESPECT, a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted under an investigational device exemption (IDE), which was the largest trial of a transcatheter PFO closure device, with the longest follow-up. RESPECT demonstrated that the AMPLATZER™ PFO Occluder is effective in reducing recurrent ischemic stroke in subjects implanted with the device and can be implanted safely. The AMPLATZER™ PFO Occluder received market approval by FDA on October 28, 2016.
The purpose of this study is the continued evaluation of the long-term safety and effectiveness of the AMPLATZER™ PFO Occluder in a post approval setting.
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ARCADIA is a multicenter, biomarker-driven, randomized, double-blind, active-control, phase 3 clinical trial of apixaban versus aspirin in patients who have evidence of atrial cardiopathy and a recent stroke of unknown cause. Eleven hundred subjects will be recruited over 2.5 years at 120 sites in the NIH StrokeNet consortium. Subjects will be followed for a minimum of 1.5 years and a maximum of 4 years for the primary efficacy outcome of recurrent stroke and the primary safety outcomes of symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and major hemorrhage other than intracranial hemorrhage.
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