Think Neuro Podcast: With Stroke Victims, Speed Saves Lives | Dr. Jason Tarpley

The Think Neuro podcast from Pacific Neuroscience Institute takes you into the clinic, operating room and laboratory with doctors and surgeons who are tackling the most challenging brain diseases and disorders. Host: Anthony Effinger

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Episode 4: Show Notes

For Jason Tarpley, speed is everything. He’s the director of Pacific Neuroscience Institute’s Stroke & Neurovascular Center, and when it comes to stroke—a blockage in an artery that feeds the brain—time is a killer. For every minute that a section of brain matter doesn’t get blood flow, 1.9 million neurons suffocate to death, taking brain function with them.

Dr. Tarpley’s message to his team? No matter how fast you’re going, you should be going faster. In vascular neurology, that means threading a tube the size of a phone-charging cord into an artery in the leg, then running progressively smaller ones through it until they telescope all the way up and into the brain, guided by real-time imaging. Once there, Dr. Tarpley and his team capture and remove clots in arteries that are just millimeters wide.

Dr. Tarpley and his team are always on the lookout for ways to save minutes, and even seconds. If he’s not in the hospital when a CODE STROKE is called, Dr. Tarpley works the phone from his car, talking to emergency services and the hospital to make sure everything is prepped for the patient when he arrives.

About Dr. Tarpley

Jason W. Tarpley, MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist with fellowship training in vascular and interventional neurology. He specializes in the clinical care of patients with neurovascular disorders and has specific interest in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral aneurysms, and carotid artery stenosis. He is an investigator in many phase 2 and phase 3 clinical studies examining the safety and effectiveness of innovative therapies in stroke patients. He has published many papers and presented his research at domestic and international conferences. Dr. Tarpley serves as the Stroke Medical Director for Pacific Stroke and Aneurysm Center. He is also the clinical lead for Providence’s system-wide Clinical Stroke Research.

More Information

Visit the Pacific Stroke & Neurovascular Center or call 310-829-8701.

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