Cerebrovascular Disorders

The Neurovascular Disease and Stroke Center at UCSF Medical Center brings an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to screening, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for stroke and conditions that put patients at high risk for stroke, including brain aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, cavernous malformations, dural arteriovenous fistulae and ischemic and carotid disease. Treatment is personalized for each patient by choosing from the most advanced medical, endovascular and surgical treatments, as well as ongoing clinical trials. The Department of Neurological Surgery also has expertise in Gamma Knife radiosurgery, which can be used to treat some vascular CNS lesions.

Program Highlights:

• A Joint Commission-certified comprehensive primary stroke center – the first center in San Francisco to receive this designation.
• A Cerebral Cavernous Malformation Center of Excellence, as designated by the Angioma Alliance.
• A Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia Center of Excellence, as designated by the HHT Foundation International, Inc. (now Cure HHT)
• One of 25 regional coordinating centers that the National Institutes of Health have designated to be a hub for stroke prevention, treatment and recovery studies, with a network of research partners throughout the Bay Area.

Clinical and basic cerebrovascular research within the Department of Neurological Surgery is done in collaboration with the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care and the Center for Cerebrovascular Research (CCR). The CCR is a multi-disciplinary group of investigators conducting a wide range of research aimed at directly improving clinical outcomes and care for patients with cerebrovascular disorders.

The Department of Neurological Surgery is also home to cutting-edge surgical anatomy laboratory that is focused on developing more effective surgical strategies for complex cerebrovascular and skull base lesions. Surgical anatomist and principal investigator Roberto Rodriguez Rubio, MD performs surgical simulations in postmortem specimens and produces digital 3-D anatomic images for surgical planning, development of novel surgical approaches, and educational activities.  

• Skull Base and Cerebrovascular Lab
• Transcatheter Neurosurgical Technologies Lab
• Vascular Anomalies and Stroke Computation Lab