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.
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.