Unit of Cerebrovascular Disease

The Cerebrovascular Disease Unit is made up of a multidisciplinary team that works together to understand the problems faced by patients with cerebral blood flow disorders. These professionals study the mechanisms involved in these diseases and the strategies to adopt for improved diagnosis and treatment.

In the outpatient setting, the Unit’s professionals provide care both at the Neurology Day Hospital and in the outpatient clinics, where there is a specialist clinic[SJ1]  in which various specialists to collaborate to treat patients with complex vascular conditions.

In the inpatient setting, the Unit provides treatment across 8 semi-intensive care beds for stroke patients, as well as in the Intensive Care Units, when necessary, the vascular ward with 10 conventional inpatient beds and the Accident and Emergency Department.

This Unit is a leading centre for complex vascular pathology, including subarachnoid haemorrhage and mechanical thrombectomy for severe stroke, and provides specialist support to other hospitals in the city and across Catalonia.

The Unit leads the development of the Stroke Code (Codi Ictus), which is activated for patients eligible for acute revascularization treatments, whether through the administration of intravenous drugs or the mechanical removal of the thrombus via an interventional procedure. This code involves the activation of a series of measures aimed at obtaining a neuroimaging scan in the shortest time possible, and initiating the most appropriate treatment as soon as possible.

Around 850 patients are admitted to the Unit each year, and nearly 300 acute reperfusion treatments are performed, of which 200 are mechanical thrombectomies.

The aim of the translational research carried out in this Unit is to better understand the bidirectional relationship between the nervous system and the immune system, as well as to investigate new neuroprotective treatments.