Duke's Cerebrovascular Center offers comprehensive care for patients with intracranial stenosis.

Intracranial stenosis is the narrowing of blood vessels within the head by atherosclerosis or cholesterol plaques.

These plaques prevent the normal delivery of blood to the cerebral cortex and may cause a stroke. It is estimated that 15 percent of the nearly one million strokes that occur each year in the U.S. are caused by intracranial stenosis.

Diagnosis

When a patient has neurological symptoms of a stroke such as weakness, numbness, or difficulty with speech, our strokes neurologists seek to exclude intracranial stenosis as a possible cause. 

Patients undergo a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of the brain vessel which allows us to view the blood supply to the brain in a non-invasive manner. If intracranial stenosis is found on the MRA, we will confirm it with a cerebral angiography.  

Once confirmed, our doctors and surgeons create a treatment plan that includes the most current and innovative treatment techniques.

Treatment

The Duke Cerebrovascular Center offers a multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of intracranial stenosis.

Patients will be cared for by stroke neurologists for their medical management, and stenting procedures will be done by fellowship-trained neurointerventionists with over 30 years of experience between them. 

Our doctors and surgeons participate in a number of ongoing clinical trials to determine the optimal management of these lesions.

One of the most promising treatment options is intracranial angioplasty and stenting.

In this procedure, a small flexible balloon is used to open the area of stenosis, and a stent is then placed across the area to keep the vessel open. While there are some risks to this procedure, preliminary medical evidence suggests that this procedure is more effective than medication in preventing long term stroke.

Appointments

For information about scheduling an appointment with a specific doctor, visit the Contact Us page.

Physicians

Physicians offering this service include:

• Smith, Tony P.
  • Radiology / Vasc/Intervention Radiology
• Zomorodi, Ali R.
  • Surgery / Neurosurgery

Locations

This service is available at:

• Duke University Hospital
  2301 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27710