Stroke

Overview

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying your brain becomes blocked (ischemic stroke) or when a blood vessel ruptures (hemorrhagic stroke), causing interrupted or reduced blood supply to your brain. This deprives your brain of oxygen and nutrients, which can cause your brain cells to die. Some people may experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA), which is a brief period of symptoms similar to those experienced in a stroke.

Why choose Mayo Clinic

• Expertise and experience. Mayo Clinic doctors have expertise and experience in evaluating and treating people who have strokes and other brain and blood vessel conditions (cerebrovascular conditions). Doctors treat more than 4,000 people each year who have stroke or other cerebrovascular conditions. Mayo Clinic's campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota are certified as primary stroke centers by the Joint Commission, a national organization that evaluates and accredits health care providers.
• Team approach. Mayo Clinic doctors trained in blood vessel and brain conditions (vascular neurology), blood vessel conditions and imaging (endovascular surgical neuroradiology), blood vessel conditions and brain surgery (vascular neurosurgery), physical medicine and rehabilitation, emergency medicine, and other areas work together to promptly diagnose and treat people who have had strokes, and to prevent strokes in people who are at risk of strokes. Doctors work with you and your family to develop your treatment plan. Doctors at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota offer brain rehabilitation to people who have had strokes.
• Latest technology. Mayo Clinic doctors use advanced technology and detailed imaging tests to diagnose strokes or other cerebrovascular conditions, to determine the cause of symptoms and to determine the most appropriate treatment.
• Innovative programs. Doctors at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and Florida use stroke telemedicine to evaluate people who have had acute strokes at remote sites and provide treatment recommendations to doctors at other sites. Doctors communicate using digital video cameras, Internet telecommunications, robots and other technology.
• Research leader. Mayo Clinic doctors and researchers actively study stroke causes, risk factors, prevention, diagnostic tests and treatment options and conduct clinical trials. Mayo Clinic researchers led the CREST study, which evaluated the effectiveness and risks associated with various treatments for narrowing of the carotid artery (carotid artery disease) as ways to prevent stroke.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is ranked among the Best Hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery and for rehabilitation by U.S. News & World Report.

Why Choose Mayo Clinic
What Sets Mayo Clinic Apart

Read more about prevention, diagnosis and treatment of stroke.