Overview:
As stroke treatment and neurocritical care continue to evolve, many frontline clinicians remain unaware of the significant updates that could impact their daily practice. From interpreting CT perfusion imaging to managing complex stroke mimics and restarting antithrombotics after hemorrhage, gaps in knowledge and confidence persist across healthcare teams.
This symposium brings together national stroke and neurocritical care experts to help providers bridge those gaps. Designed for physicians, surgeons, advanced practice providers, nurses, and allied professionals, the program blends evidence-based lectures with real-world cases and interactive panels, focusing on stroke imaging, neuro-ICU protocols, airway and sedation management, rare stroke syndromes, and interdisciplinary handoffs.
Stroke and neurocritical care demand a high level of technical skill, real-time decision-making, and interdisciplinary collaboration. As treatment options expand and clinical evidence evolves, it is essential for all members of the stroke care team to recognize and close the practice gaps that affect outcomes. This symposium is strategically designed to meet this need, helping clinicians update their knowledge, sharpen their clinical skills, and deliver safer, more effective care to patients with complex neurovascular emergencies.
Target Audience:
This activity is designed for general and consult neurologists, stroke neurologists, neuro-intensivists, general, vascular, spine and trauma neurosurgeons, pulmonary critical care medicine physicians, cardiologist and cardiac surgeons, surgical critical care and general/trauma surgeons, anesthesiology critical care medicine physicians, emergency medicine physicians, critical care registered nurses, neuroscience nurses, acute care nurse practitioners, physician assistants/associates, EMTs and paramedics, pharmacists, and physicians and surgeons in training.
Planning Committee:
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School/Rutgers Health
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital/RWJBarnabas Health
Roger C. Cheng, MD
Tiffany Eben, MS, PA-C
Adam Ganzman, MSN, RN, APN-BC, ANVP-BC SCRN
Ram C. Gowda, MD
Gaurav Gupta, MD
Kimberly Hollender, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC, ANVP, APN
Deviyani Mehta, MD
Emad Nourollah-Zadeh, MD
Igor Rybinnik, MD
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Center for Continuing and Outreach Education
Patrick Dwyer
Keisha Ferguson, MPA
Objectives:
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:
- Interpret and apply advanced neuroimaging techniques, including CT perfusion (CTP), CTA, and mismatch imaging, to guide acute stroke decision-making and extended-window interventions
- Evaluate current clinical evidence and guidelines related to thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy, and post-intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) anticoagulation to inform individualized treatment strategies
- Differentiate rare cerebrovascular presentations, such as carotid web, vertebral artery dissection, and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, from more common stroke subtypes to improve diagnostic accuracy.
- Implement best practices in neurocritical care management, including neurosurgical drain care, sedation protocols, ventilator strategies, and prevention of aspiration and agitation.
- Enhance interprofessional communication and coordination across the emergency department, ICU, and rehabilitation settings to optimize patient transitions and continuity of care.
- Recognize and address practice disparities in stroke prevention and recovery using evidence-based approaches and patient-centered planning.