My research – Interventional treatment of cerebrovascular disease
Piers Klein is working under the mentorship of Dr. Thanh Nguyen and Dr. Mohamad Abdalkader in the departments of Neurology and Radiology at Boston Medical Center and the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. His research focuses on the epidemiology, diagnosis, medical and interventional treatment of cerebrovascular disease. Stroke is a devastating and common form of cerebrovascular disease affecting more than 800,000 people per year in the United States. Endovascular therapy, in which catheters are introduced through the skin into the blood vessels and navigated to the brain for clot removal, has transformed stroke care over the past decade. Piers has been involved with multiple large multicenter collaborations that have yielded insight into optimal techniques in the use of endovascular therapy. The PLATO study, co-led by Boston University and Heidelberg University, demonstrated favorable outcomes for patients with occlusions of the posterior cerebral artery treated by endovascular therapy and suggested that a first-line stent-retriever technique may offer the most benefit. Analyses of the SVIN registry have confirmed the real-world benefit of endovascular therapy suggested by randomized trials, challenged the use of bridging tPA in patients receiving endovascular therapy, and supported the use of endovascular therapy in patients with COVID-19 and stroke.
Piers enrolled in the LEADS research track for medical students. Learn more about the LEADS research track and other research opportunities.