Stroke can now be treated within 24 hours: Neurologists

Trichy: Doctors, on Sunday, citing the new guidelines provided by American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association (AHA/ASA), said that the treatment for stroke that is performing mechanical thrombectomy to remove blood clot from an artery of vein, could now be done even within 24 hours after a patient suffers stroke instead of within six hours according to earlier guidelines.
Doctors said that though all patients might not fit into the criteria for this, at least two to three out of 10 patients could possibly be provided effective treatment if they come between six to 24-hour time window.

Mechanical thrombectomy is a relatively new procedure and was introduced in Trichy only this year. This procedure is said to be more effective in treating severe stroke incidents compared to the usual procedure of intravenous (IV) thrombolysis.

The doctors spoke about this at the side lines of ‘Stroke Management & Hands on Training’ at a Continued Medical Education (CME) organised by Kauvery Hospital.

According to Dr G Jos Jasper, course director and head of the department of Kauvery Brain & Spine Centre, initially, the perception was that the patients, who suffer stroke, should be treated within two to four hours. “But the AHA/ ASA guidelines has broken this conception and for select patients, mechanical thrombectomy could be done within 24 hours,” he said.

The doctor added that the mechanical thrombectomy is the most advanced and effective procedure for patients, who suffer stroke, and that the procedures done so far at the hospital has yielded positive initial results.

But it is considerably expensive as while IV thrombolysis costs Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000, mechanical thrombectomy costs around Rs 2.5 lakh.

Speaking about how mechanical thrombectomy is performed, neurologist Dr Fazal Ilahi said, “In mechanical thrombectomy, a clot is removed using a stent retriever. It’s not an open surgery and the procedure could be done within 30 to 40 minutes and the recovery rate of the patients is also very good. For performing this, cath lab infrastructure is a must,” he told TOI.

Source