• Faculty Members

Division of Neurology

Demetrios J. Sahlas

MSc, MD, FRCP(C), DABPN

Education and Professional Standing

Dr. Sahlas obtained his degree in Medicine in 1996 from McMaster University and completed his postgraduate training in Neurology at McGill University in 2001, followed by a Specialty Clinics fellowship in Behavioural Neurology and Stroke at the University of Toronto under the mentorship of Dr. Sandra Black.  He joined the Division of Neurology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in 2003, and served as Director of the North and East GTA Regional Stroke Prevention Clinic from 2003-2008.

In March, 2008, he took a position at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, joining the Division of Neurology at the Hamilton General Hospital, the Regional Stroke Centre for Central South Ontario.  In July, 2008 he became the inaugural recipient of the MG DeGroote Professorship in Stroke Management, and also began a term as Champion, Best Practices across the Continuum of Care for the Provincial Coordinating Council of the Ontario Stroke Network, the governance body for the Ontario Stroke System.

Dr. Sahlas has been active throughout many aspects of the Ontario Stroke System.  He became involved in the Telestroke initiative soon after its inception, contributed to the Canadian Best Practice recommendations in stroke care, participates in the OSS Health Promotion and Primary Prevention Subcommittee, served on the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Secondary Prevention task force, and is part of the steering committee for the Ontario College of Family Physicians “Saving the Brain” Network.

Research Interests

The diagnosis and management of carotid artery disease, the use of transcranial doppler (TCD) ultrasound in the prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular disease, and the cognitive and neuropathological correlates of chronic microvascular ischemic changes involving the periventricular and subcortical white matter. 

Dr. Sahlas is also a member of the Canadian Stroke Consortium and has been site-investigator and principal investigator for several clinical trials involving stroke prevention, acute stroke treatment, and vascular cognitive impairment.

Selected Publications

1. Huynh TJ, Murphy B, Pettersen JA, Tu H, Sahlas DJ, Zhang L, Symons SP, Black S, Lee TY, Aviv RI. CT perfusion quantification of small-vessel ischemic severity. American Journal Neuroradiology 29(10):1831-1836, 2008
2. Wada R, Aviv RI, Fox AJ, Sahlas DJ, Gladstone DJ, Tomlinson G, Symons SP. CT angiography “spot sign” predicts hematoma expansion in acute intracerebral hemorrhage. Stroke 38(4):1257-1262, 2007.
3. Murphy BD, Fox AJ, Lee DH, Sahlas DJ, Black SE, Hogan MJ, Coutts SB, Demchuk AM, Goyal M, Aviv RI, Symons S, Gulka IB, Beletsky V, Pelz D, Hachinski V, Chan R, Lee T-Y. Identification of penumbra and infarct in acute ischemic stroke using CT Perfusion derived blood flow and blood volume measurements. Stroke 37(7):1771-1777, 2006.
4. Bocti C, Swartz RH, Gao FQ, Sahlas DJ, Behl P, Black SE. A new visual rating scale to assess strategic white matter hyperintensities within cholinergic pathways in dementia. Stroke 36(10):2126-2131, 2005.
5. Gladstone DJ, Sahlas DJ. Should people with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis undergo endarterectomy for primary stroke prevention? Canadian Medical Association Journal 171(7):726-727, 2004.
6. Swartz RH, Sahlas DJ, Black SE. Strategic involvement of cholinergic pathways correlates with visuospatial and executive dysfunction: Does the location of white matter signal hyperintensities matter? Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases 12(1):29-36, 2003.
7. Sahlas DJ, Bilbao JM, Swartz RH, Black SE. Clasmatodendrosis correlating with MRI white matter changes in a case of mixed dementia. Annals of Neurology 52(3):378-381, 2002.