NeurologyLive® Year in Review 2022: Most-Watched Stroke and Brain Injury Expert Interviews

The NeurologyLive^® team spoke with hundreds of experts across the field of neurology, culminating in hundreds of hours of interview clips posted over the course of this year. The staff spoke with neurologists, investigators, advanced practice providers, physical therapists, advocates, patients, pharmacists, and industry experts—anyone involved in the process of delivering clinical care.

These conversations were had with individuals from all over the world, both virtually and in person. The team attended more than 10 annual meetings of medical societies, each and every time sitting down with experts on-site to learn more about the conversations driving care and the challenges being overcome.

From those in the field of stroke, cerebrovascular disease, and brain injury this year, we learned about the potential to reverse damage to the brain, the ever-ongoing quest to extend the stroke treatment window, the long-term effects of COVID-19 on brain health, the latest technological advances in stroke recovery, and a variety of other hot topics.

Here, we'll highlight the most-viewed expert interviews on NeurologyLive^® this year. Click the buttons to watch more of our conversations with these experts.

1. SB623’s Potential for Traumatic Brain Injury: Peter J. McAllister, MD, FAAN

The medical director and chief medical officer of the New England Center for Neurology and Headache spoke to the phase 2 STEMTRA trial results of the stem cell treatment SB623. WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

“Having been a clinical researcher for nearly 25 years, this is one of the most exciting trials I’ve ever done. Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury is devastating—to the individual, to the families, and even to society from a cost of care basis. There are no treatments at all right now.”

2. Using Primseq to Simplify the Complexities of Rehabilitation Intervention Dosing: Heidi Schambra, MD

The associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Langone discussed the current methods of prescribing rehabilitation and why a new digital tool can improve them going forward. WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"The typical major approaches have been time in therapy to measure dose or to measure intensity, which we know is not precise. The flip side of that is just sitting there and counting the repetitions, or using video analysis afterwards, but it’s just incredibly laborious and cost personnel time, personnel costs, and the feedback is slow."

3. The Success of the Jefferson Mobile Stroke Unit: Alvin Wang, DO, BC-EMS

The chief of emergency medical services at Jefferson Health shared his perspective on the first 2 years of the Jefferson MSU’s use and what takeaways he has gleaned from the experience. WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

“The greatest strength of our program is certainly in the partnerships that we have. My advice would be to engage early with potential partners as quickly as possible. One of the strengths of our program is that we had very early engagement from EMS.”

4. Clinical Application of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Poststroke Symptoms: Wayne Feng, MD, FAHA

The division chief of stroke and vascular neurology at Duke Health discussed advantages and capabilities, as well as limitations and barriers of transcranial direct current stimulation to treat poststroke symptoms. WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

"Once you have one, then it becomes more variable, it supports competition, the costs will go down, and more patients can benefit."

5. The Mobile Stroke Unit Paradigm Shift for EMS: Thomas Topley

The executive director of the Bensalem Rescue Squad spoke specifically to how the MSU has shifted the paradigm of care that EMS can provide to individuals in the community. WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

“Today, it’s just amazing in EMS and the hospital world, how much care we can [provide] to stop the stroke from getting any worse or even reversing the effects of the stroke.”

6. Multifaceted Use of NuroSleeve to Restore Arm Function in Neurological Diseases: Joe Kardine, MS, OTR, CBIS

The clinical program manager at the Jefferson Center for Neurorestoration provided insight on a new myoelectric device designed for restoration of independent arm function in those with neurological diseases. WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

"Just by using the affected extremity, even passively, is not only helpful in function but it also reiterates on the back end of what therapy may have reiterated throughout the recovery. It’s a different way of doing it, and also more engaging because you’re starting to involve both extremities and somewhat of what normal function used to be like."

7. Directions for Future Research on COVID-Disorders of Consciousness: David Fischer, MD

The neurocritical care fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital highlighted areas for future research to better understand disorders of consciousness associated with COVID-19. WATCH TIME: 2 minutes

“Now, when we get called to see these patients who are in the medical ICU or elsewhere, we have some information we can give those teams and give those families—the expectation is that these patients are likely to wake up and regain significant neurologic function, and I think that’s going to be helpful for guiding decisions about whether to continue or withdraw life-sustaining treatment.”

8. The Role of Preeclampsia and Inflammation in Late-Life Cognition: Vesna Garovic, MD, PhD

The chair of the nephrology division at Mayo Clinic provided context on recent findings linking inflammation and neurovascular damage in women with a history of severe preeclampsia, and how the community may react. WATCH TIME: 4 minutes

"Alternatively, you can argue that women with preeclampsia had proinflammatory movement prior to their disease that actually resulted in different disease entities in different times of a woman’s life.”

9. Optimizing Mobile Stroke Units and Dealing With Associated Costs: Gregory W. Albers, MD

The director of the Stanford Stroke Center and Coyote Foundation Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford Medical Center shared his perspective on the uptake of mobile stroke units across the United States. WATCH TIME: 6 minutes

“MSUs are very expensive. They require a lot of effort to keep them up and running, so most communities don’t have them available. But, if it is available, it clearly makes a difference because you can get the thrombolytic—tPA or TNK—started out in the field.”

10. Understanding the Associations of Stroke and COVID-19: Matthew Schindler, MD, PhD

The assistant professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania discussed stroke risk among patients with COVID-19 and the need to seek neurological consultation. WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"It may be possible that these different mechanisms are causing these different sorts of symptomatology. But we need to do those careful studies while the patient’s acutely ill because a lot of times we’re understandably focused on the clinical case and tried to go back afterwards to look at what happened. Collecting data at that time is going to be the best way for us to answer those questions."