Procedures
The mantra ‘time is brain’ doesn’t include the idea that you can salvage a small percentage of patients at 39 hours - Gregory Albers MD
.jpg "Procedures")
image by: Dr. Ramon Reyes, MD
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We've Made Astonishing Progress in Treating Stroke
When I started as a resident at Mass General, there was little we could do for severe stroke patients except manage the medical complications. As a result, there was a feeling of hopelessness among doctors; we noted the tragedy and moved on.
But that started to change when researchers began experimenting with drugs that could dissolve the clots that block the brain arteries and cause ischemic stroke (when oxygen is cut off to part of the brain). This new line of research was inspired by the successes of using clot-dissolving drugs to treat heart attack patients. However, there was one major difference. Clot-dissolving drugs can be deadly, causing bleeding into brain tissue already…
Resources
Using AI to Help Stroke Victims When 'Time Is Brain'
Viz’s first product is designed to help in that race against time by automatically analyzing CT scans of ER patients. The company has trained machine-learning algorithms similar to those that an iPhone uses to spot cats in your photos to detect blockages in major brain blood vessels.
A Breakthrough Stroke Treatment Can Save Lives—If It’s Available
The ‘thrombectomy’ is transforming stroke care, pre-empting brain damage in many patients, but the medical establishment is far from making it standard practice.
For Treating Severe Strokes, All Hospitals Aren’t Equal
A revolutionary procedure called thrombectomy can treat severe strokes, but most hospitals in the U.S. don’t perform it.
New Findings Could Save Lives of More Stroke Patients
Many more stroke victims than previously thought can be saved from disability or death if doctors remove blood clots that are choking off circulation to the brain, a new study has shown.
Targeting Inflammation May Protect and Restore the Brain after Stroke
Until recently the only treatment available for ischemic stroke was tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, a protein that can dissolve blood clots if injected up to four and a half hours after stroke onset. Care has improved dramatically in the last few years as advances in thrombectomy—surgical clot removal—have allowed doctors to clear larger blockages and treat patients up to 24 hours after symptoms began. Even after successful clot removal, however, the rush of blood back into the brain and the dying tissue left behind can lead to additional complications such as inflammation.
A Fast Track to Treatment for Stroke Patients
Video-conferencing, mobile robots and virtual neurologists help limit damage.
A Neurosurgeon’s Remarkable Plan to Treat Stroke Victims With Stem Cells
Gary Steinberg defied convention when he began implanting living cells inside the brains of patients who had suffered from a stroke.
A Revolution in Fighting Clots
A technique called thrombectomy widens the time window in which stroke victims can be treated.
Cerebral Intervention
A look at the skills and devices needed for treating ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, cerebral aneurysms, and neurovascular occlusions.
Hospitals Rush to Offer New Stroke Treatment
Dramatic results of thrombectomies pave way for greater availability, though some doctors say the fast expansion brings risks.
Improving Access to Stroke Treatment: Six Key Points the Wall Street Journal Missed
A February 6 article in the Wall Street Journal, “A Breakthrough Stroke Treatment Can Save Lives – If It’s Available” raised awareness of barriers that hinder patient access to thrombectomy, but these six aspects should have been included...
We've Made Astonishing Progress in Treating Stroke
Stroke has fallen from the third to the fifth leading cause of death, thousands have received emergency stroke treatment, and the medical profession has changed and risen to the challenge. But also look forward to the discoveries yet to be made in prevention and treatment.
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