Published: Sunday, 3/8/2015 - Updated: 5 hours ago
BY MARLENE HARRIS-TAYLOR BLADE STAFF WRITER
A breakthrough treatment has several Toledo physicians predicting the stroke death rate will tumble for patients who suffer the most severe and disabling cases.
A newly tested stent-like medical device gives physicians the ability to perform a minimally invasive procedure called endovascular thrombectomy that local and national experts agree will not only improve survival rates, but will also lower the risk of lasting disabilities in stroke patients.
It will fundamentally change treatment of patients experiencing ischemic stroke, said Dr. Mouhammad Jumaa, director of the Stroke Center at the University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio.
An ischemic stroke is the most common form caused by the blockage of blood flow to the brain.
During the procedure, physicians enter the Solitaire Stent in the patients body near the groin, then, while monitoring on a computer, move the stent through the major arteries to the brain where most stroke-related blood clots are located.
The clot is then grabbed and physically pulled out of the body, said Dr. Jumaa, who is also the medical director of ProMedicas Stroke Network.
When the blood clot is removed, the blood begins to flow immediately into the brain tissue that was blocked. This prevents the brain tissues from dying, enabling many people to return to an independent life after the stroke, said Dr. Syed Zaidi, medical director of ProMedica Neurointerventional Service and of vascular and interventional neurologists at UTMC.
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Device a game-changer for strokes