In this book, an international group of investigators from a broad array of clinical and basic disciplines present the ideas and concepts in the foreground of cerebrovascular disease. Included in their discussion are perspectives on topics that continue to guide current investigations, such as white matter injury, newer imaging approaches, delayed neuronal death, and recovery after stroke, as well as continuing disagreements on the value of heparin or MRI endpoints in the management of stroke patients.

Further topics include a proposal for a major multicenter re-study of the utility of extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery in light of additional diagnostic information available through PET scanning; examination of how processes such as apoptosis, inflammation, free radicals, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase activation, and alterations in glutamate receptor function contribute to the pathogenesis of ischemic brain injury; and finally an exploration of how estrogens or cholesterol-lowering agents might be used therapeutically.