Biography

Mervyn Vergouwen obtained his PhD degree at the University of Amsterdam / Academic Medical Center in 2009. The title of his PhD was ‘Delayed cerebral ischemia after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage – the role of coagulation and fibrinolysis’. From 2009-2010 he did a clinical/research stroke fellowship at the University of Toronto, Canada. After his return to the Netherlands, he worked as a postdoc at the Laboratory of Experimental Vascular Medicine at the Academic Medical Center to study the role of microthrombosis in the pathogenesis of delayed cerebral ischemia after subarachnoid hemorrhage in a mouse model. In 2011 he accepted a position as a staff neurologist at the UMC Utrecht and joined Prof. Gabriel Rinkel’s research group on aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.

His research focuses on unruptured intracranial aneurysms, diagnosis of (aneurysmal) subarachnoid hemorrhage, and brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage. This includes all processes that occur in the (sub)acute setting, including the initial hemorrhage and subsequent in-hospital complications (such as rebleeding, delayed cerebral ischemia, hydrocephalus, and infections), and the relationship of these processes with micro- and macrostructural brain injury, disability, and cognitive impairment.

His work was published in >100 publications and to date (December 2018) has been cited >3500 times.

Mervyn Vergouwen is the president-elect of the 15th International Conference on SubArachnoid Hemorrhage (ISAH) 2019 and co-PI of the Prospective Randomized Open-label Trial to Evaluate risk faCTor management in patients with Unruptured intracranial aneurysms (PROTECT-U).

Research line

Unruptured intracranial aneurysms - Subarachnoid hemorrhage

Most recent key publications

1: Backes D, Rinkel GJ, Greving JP, Velthuis BK, Murayama Y, Takao H, Ishibashi T, Igase M, terBrugge KG, Agid R, Jääskeläinen JE, Lindgren AE, Koivisto T, von und zu Fraunberg M, Matsubara S, Moroi J, Wong GK, Abrigo JM, Igase K, Matsumoto K, Wermer MJ, van Walderveen MA, Algra A, Vergouwen MD. The ELAPSS score for prediction of risk of growth of unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Neurology 2017; Mar 31. [Epub ahead of print].

2: Backes D, Rinkel GJ, Laban KG, Algra A, Vergouwen MD. Patient- and aneurysm-specific risk factors for intracranial aneurysm growth - a systematic review and meta-analysis. Stroke 2016;47:951-957.

3: Vergouwen MD, Jong-Tjien-Fa A, Algra A, Rinkel GJ. Time trends in causes of death after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a hospital-based study. Neurology 2016;86:59-63.

4: Etminan N, Brown RD, Beseoglu K, Juvela S, Raymond J, Morita A, Torner JC, Derdeyn CP, Raabe A, Mocco J, Korja M, Abdulazim A, Amin-Hanjani S, Salman RA, Barrow DL, Bederson J, Bonafe A, Dumont A, Fiorella DH, Gruber A, Hankey G, Hasan DM, Hoh BL, Jabbour P, Kasuya H., Kelly ME, Kirkpatrick PJ, Knuckey N, Koivisto T, Krings T, Lawton MT, Marotta TR, Mayer SA, Mee E, Molyneux A, Morgan MK, Mori K, Murayama Y, Nagahiro S, Nakayama N, Niemelä M, Knuckey N, Ogilvy CS, Mendes-Perreira V, Pierot L, Rabinstein AA, Roos YB, Rinne J, Rosenwasser RH, Ronkainen A, Schaller K, Seifert V, Solomon RA, Spears J, Steiger HJ, Vergouwen MD, Wanke I, Wermer MJH, Wong GK, Wong JH, Zipfel GF, Connolly ES, Steinmetz H, Lanzino G, Pasqualin A, Rüfenacht D, LeRoux P, Vajkoczy P, McDougall C, Hänggi D, Rinkel GJ, Macdonald RL. The Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysm Treatment Score: A multidisciplinary consensus. Neurology 2015;85:881-889.  

5: Backes D, Rinkel GJ, van der Schaaf IC, Nij Bijvank JA, Verweij BH, Visser-Meily JM, Post MW, Algra A, Vergouwen MD. Recovery to pre-interventional functioning, return-to-work and life satisfaction after treatment of unruptured aneurysms. Stroke 2015;46:1607-1612.

6: Blok KM, Rinkel GJ, Majoie CB, Hendrikse J, Braaksma M, Tijssen CC, Wong YY, Hofmeijer J, Extercatte J, Kerklaan B, Schreuder TH, ten Holter S, Verheul F, Harlaar L, Pruissen MO, Kwa VI, Brouwers PJ, Remmers MJ, Schonewille WJ, Kruyt ND, Vergouwen MD. CT within 6 hours to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage in nonacademic hospitals. Neurology 2015;84:1927-1932.

7: Backes D, Vergouwen MD, Velthuis BK, van der Schaaf IC, Bor AS, Algra A, Rinkel GJ. Difference in characteristics between ruptured and unruptured aneurysms in patients with multiple intracranial aneurysms. Stroke 2014;45:1299-1303.

8: Cremers CH, van der Schaaf IC, Wensink E, Greving JP, Rinkel GJ, Velthuis BK, Vergouwen MD. CT perfusion and delayed cerebral ischemia in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2014;34:200-207.

9: Backes D, Rinkel GJ, Kemperman H, Linn FH, Vergouwen MD. Time-dependent test characteristics of head CT in patients suspected of non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage. Stroke 2012;43:2115-2119.

10: Diringer MN, Bleck TP, Claude Hemphill J 3rd, Menon D, Shutter L, Vespa P, Bruder N, Connolly ES Jr, Citerio G, Gress D, Hänggi D, Hoh BL, Lanzino G, Le Roux P, Rabinstein A, Schmutzhard E, Stocchetti N, Suarez JI, Treggiari M, Tseng MY, Vergouwen MD, Wolf S, Zipfel G. Critical care management of patients following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: recommendations from the Neurocritical Care Society’s Multidisciplinary Consensus Conference. Neurocrit Care 2011;15:211-240.

11: Vergouwen MD, Vermeulen M, van Gijn J, Rinkel GJ, Wijdicks EF, Muizelaar JP, Mendelow AD, Juvela S, Yonas H, Terbrugge KG, Macdonald RL, Diringer MN, Broderick JP, Dreier JP, Roos YB. Definition of delayed cerebral ischemia after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage as an outcome event in clinical trials and observational studies - Proposal of a multidisciplinary research group. Stroke 2010;41:2391-2395.

12: Vergouwen MD, Meijers JC, Geskus RB, Coert BA, Horn J, Stroes ES, van der Poll T, Vermeulen M, Roos YB. Biologic effects of simvastatin in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage - a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2009;29:1444-1453.

13: Vergouwen MD, Vermeulen M, Coert BA, Stroes ES, Roos YB. Microthrombosis after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage - an additional explanation for delayed cerebral ischemia. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 2008;28:1761-1770.

14: Vergouwen MD, Vermeulen M, Roos YB. Effect of nimodipine on outcome in patients with traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage - a systematic review. Lancet Neurol 2006;5:1029-1032.