* In the US, a new cutting edge treatment is being evaluated to treat disabling strokes. It uses tiny devices to snag large clots from a blocked artery within the brain.
The clot-removal devices are wire cages called stent retrievers, or “stentrievers” .
* The main treatment for long has been tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA — a clot-busting drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1996 that must be given intravenously within 4.5 hours to be effective. But for people with blood clots in larger arteries, tPA often does not dissolve them completely.
* Many trials, such as those talked about in the article here , offer the first evidence in 20 years that a new treatment can help people who are having a stroke, the world’s leading cause of death and disability disability.
* The procedure, called mechanical thrombectomy, should be done within six hours of acute stroke symptoms, and only after the patient receives tPA. To remove the clot, doctors thread a catheter through an artery in the groin up to the blocked artery in the brain. The stent opens and grabs the clot, allowing doctors to remove the stent with the trapped clot. Special suction tubes may also be used.
* Stent retrievers are already being used at hospitals across the United States, including all 90 comprehensive stroke centers and some of the more than 1,000 primary stroke centers certified by the AHA/American Stroke Association and the Joint Commission, a nonprofit that accredits hospitals.
* The FDA cleared two stent-retrieval devices in 2012: Solitaire, made by Minneapolis-based Medtronic, and Trevo, made by Stryker Corporation of Kalamazoo, Michigan. These newer clot-snagging stents are safer and more effective than older devices that resembled a corkscrew.
* Even so, the procedure does not work for every stroke patient, and the results can vary.
Read the full story here ( 2015 Article)
Here is an article of Nov. 2021 elaborating upon some Indian hospitals now performing the procedure.
And here a video explaining the procedure :
If you have limited/No information about Stroke, its symptoms and consequences, we STRONGLY suggest you read at least one of the following before you leave this Website, as well as share the links with your friends and family. You may save someone from sudden death or being crippled for life !
* Be fast – Stroke Symptoms in English with Videos of Actual Strokes
* स्ट्रोक (आघात) – हिंदी में कुछ जानकारी
* स्ट्रोक-के-साधारण-लक्षण
* In Bengali – Be Fast – দ্রুত !
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* In Marathi – BE FAST स्ट्रोक होतो तेव्हा !
* In Odiya – ଷ୍ଟ୍ରୋକ: ମୃତ୍ୟୁ ଅଥବା ଶାରୀରିକ/ମାନସିକ ଅସମର୍ଥ
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