VascLab UCSF

#BarrowNeurologicalInstitute and @SupportBarrow contributed to a landmark study that is helping to unravel the mysteries behind why some aneurysms rupture while others do not. These findings could help us better predict and prevent hemorrhagic #strokes. An estimated 1 in 50 Americans has a #brainaneurysm, which is a balloon-like bulge on a weakened blood vessel wall in the brain. While some brain aneurysms may never cause problems, others can burst and lead to life-threatening brain bleeds. Predicting which aneurysms require intervention and which can be monitored has always been challenging, due to unknowns about the underlying biology of these malformations. The new study, led by @UCSF and published June 10 in @NatureNeuro, analyzed more than 100,000 individual cells from human aneurysms and healthy brain arteries. The researchers identified a process in which scar-forming cells replace supportive muscle cells in the blood vessels, activating inflammatory immune cells and gradually weakening the vessel walls. The paper's senior author, UCSF Associate Professor @EWinklerMDPhD, is a graduate of the #neuroendovascular and #cerebrovascular/skull base fellowships at Barrow. He was mentored by Barrow President and CEO @mtlawton, MD, a corresponding author on the paper. Barrow faculty Ruchira Jha, MD, MSc; S. Paul Oh, PhD; and Tomoki Hashimoto, MD, are also authors on the paper, along with Barrow alumni Lea Scherschinksi, MD, and Joshua Catapano, MD. Read the paper at bar.rw/aneurysm-nature.

Excited to share our multi-center study in @NatureNeuro describing the cellular landscape of human brain aneurysms to help understand why they form, progress, and rupture. Wonderful collaboration with @mtlawton, @NeurosurgUCSF, @BarrowNeuro, and @BAFOUND nature.com/articles/s41593-0…