Doctors at Chennai hospital use new technique to treat stroke

CHENNAI: When 43-year-old Kalavathi fainted suddenly one morning four months ago, her son Tamilselvan had no idea what to do. On realising she was having a stroke, he rushed her to a private hospital in Chennai where they removed her clot and saved her life.
While it has always been a challenge to treat patients who have a block in one of the major blood vessels in their brain, doctors at MIOT Hospitals performed a mechanical thrombectomy, where the clot is removed using a stent.
"This procedure offers a better outcome compared to the IV clot buster method. The patient is able to regain more than 80% mobility post the stroke," said stroke specialist Dr V Murali.
Severe strokes are mainly caused by blocks in large blood vessels. Treatments in India have so far focused on dissolving or aspirating the blocks over a period of time and have had limited success.
“In mechanical thrombectomy, which is twice as effective, the clot which is the root cause of the stroke is completely trapped by a special device called the stent retriever and then extracted without open surgery,” said the doctor.
This restores blood flow immediately and revives dying brain cells, thereby reversing stroke damage. “Patients recover usage of their damaged faculties within hours of the procedure and can go home within a week to recover completely,” he added.
Since a stroke victim cannot help himself while a stroke is happening, it is dependent on family members, colleagues or bystanders who witness the stroke to respond correctly.
“They must reach the patient within the golden window period (within 3 hours) to the right centre so that the victim has a chance of complete recovery through the latest treatment,” said Dr Krishnan Balagopal, head of the department of neurology.