Serious consequences of stroke dictate that new approaches to the treatment
of stroke be investigated. We have developed a method for perfusing the pa
tient's own arterial blood retrograde through the venous system to ischemic
brain tissue. This treatment has proven beneficial in preventing and rever
sing serious injury in the laboratory and in a small clinical trial. The la
boratory investigation has also demonstrated that this therapy, retrograde
transvenous neuroperfusion, can be coupled with hypothermia to potentially
increase its benefit. History, experimental development, and the clinical t
rial are reviewed in this article.