Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (España)
Abstract
Stroke and traumatic injury in brain or spinal
cord are often life-threating conditions and
major causes of death or permanent disability
with high impact in the health care system.
There are several stages of intervention to
improve the neurological outcome. Acutely, fast
interventions aiming to reestablish cerebral
blood flow in ischemic stroke, to stop bleeding
after brain hemorrhage, and to reduce edema
after contusions are amongst mandatory
actions. Current studies aim to develop
accompanying strategies for brain cell
protection based on enhancing endogenous
protective mechanism, blocking cell death
pathways, or through immunomodulation.
After the acute phase, interventions are
intended to promote recovery of function using
rehabilitation with state-of-the-art
technologies enabled by robotics. Other
advanced strategies include cell, gene, and
immune therapies, and brain function
modulation with the aid of smart
nanotechnologies. There is great expectation in
the fast evolving novel approaches for
improvement of neurological deficits in these
unpredictable and devastating conditionPeer reviewe
