Professor Barber is a neurologist and stroke sub-specialist. He graduated from the Otago Medical School and completed his neurology training in Auckland, New Zealand in 1997. He received a PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2000. He returned to New Zealand in 2001 and has established a stroke unit at Auckland City Hospital. He was appointed the Neurological Foundation of New Zealand Professor of Clinical Neurology at The University of Auckland in 2008 and also Deputy Director of the Centre for Brain Research at The University of Auckland in 2009. He is the Honorary Medical Advisor for the Stroke Foundation of New Zealand, Northern Region.

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Endovascular Clot Retrieval in a New Zealand Setting 

In acute ischaemic stroke, endovascular therapy with the Solitaire FR stent retriever has been shown to double recanalisation rates and the numbers of patients who recover to be functionally independent, when compared to standard therapy. At Auckland City Hospital 110 previously independent ischaemic stroke patients have been treated with clot retrieval to the end of June 2017. Just over half of patients are from outside of the Auckland District Health Board region. All patients have had proximal large artery occlusions on CT angiography and many also have CT perfusion scans showing salvageable ischaemic tissue.  Patients fall into three groups: anterior circulation occlusion; posterior circulation occlusion; and ‘Rescue’ clot retrieval, usually with stroke that followed a procedure. We have shown that endovascular clot retrieval can be safely and effectively performed in a New Zealand setting with similar results to recent trials. We suggest that District Health Boards develop clot retrieval services as part of regional hyperacute stroke treatment pathways.