Retrograde transvenous perfusion

Serious consequences of stroke dictate that new approaches to the treatment of stroke be investigated. We have developed a method for perfusing the patient's own arterial blood retrograde through the venous system to ischemic brain tissue. This treatment has proven beneficial in preventing and reversing serious injury in the laboratory and in a small clinical trial. The laboratory investigation has also demonstrated that this therapy, retrograde transvenous neuroperfusion, can be coupled with hypothermia to potentially increase its benefit. History, experimental development, and the clinical trial are reviewed in this article.