Primary Stroke Center at Memorial Regional Hospital Provides Immediate Evaluation and Care
Stroke Facts
Stroke - What Is It?
- Stroke is a "brain attack"
- Stroke is an emergency
- When symptoms appear, call "911"
Stroke Warning Signs
- Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg — usually on one side of the body
- Difficulty speaking or understanding language
- Decreased or blurred vision in one or both eyes
- Sudden, severe headache
- Unexplained loss of balance or dizziness
Reduce Your Risk of Stroke Through Lifestyle Modification
- Have your blood pressure checked regularly
- Reduce your salt intake
- Maintain a normal weight through a healthy diet (low in fat, high in fruits and vegetables, only lean meats)
- Exercise regularly
- Stop smoking
Expected Benefits of Primary Stroke Center
- Reduced morbidity and mortality
- Fewer peristroke complications
- Increased use of acute stroke therapies
- Improved long-term outcomes
- Improved efficiency of patient care
- Increased patient satisfaction
Updated June 2002 — Once thought to be untreatable, unpreventable and unpredictable, strokes are no longer as worrisome as they once were. In fact, Harvey Schwartz, MD, Chief of Neuroscience at Memorial Regional Hospital, says that treatment is now available to diminish the damage and disability caused by stroke.
"The key is evaluating the patient and administering the appropriate treatment quickly," says Dr. Schwartz, who prefers "brain attack" to "stroke" because the term better describes what happens during a stroke. Similar to a heart attack, where blood flow to the heart is interrupted and the heart is deprived of oxygen, in a brain attack, blood flow to the brain is interrupted and the brain is deprived of oxygen.
Memorial Regional Hospital, which has been designated as a Primary Stroke Center by the American Stroke Association, has a Brain Attack Team available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide treatment to people who suffer brain attacks. The team — which is similar in philosophy to a trauma team — includes emergency medical service personnel, an acute-stroke team of experts and neuroimaging and laboratory services.
Time is of the Essence
"When tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) was found to be positive in the treatment of acute stroke, the need for established criteria and protocols presented itself," says Dr. Schwartz. "By establishing a protocol and assembling a stroke team we can now manage patients more properly, save lives and decrease costs."
The key challenge is the lack of public awareness of stroke symptoms and onset. "T-PA can only be administered intravenously within three hours of the onset of a brain attack," says Dr. Schwartz. "If it has been more than three hours, but less than six hours, it can be administered intra-arterially, but only by a neuro-interventionalist."
Memorial Regional Hospital's Hoang Duong, MD, Director of Interventional Radiology, is one of only a few neuro-interventionalists in the United States. As a member of the Brain Attack Team, Dr. Duong's expertise is called on when it is necessary to administer t-PA intra-arterially.
Unfortunately, most stroke patients don't recognize stroke symptoms and put off seeking emergency treatment until well after the treatment can be effectively administered.
A Consolidated Effort
Part of the Memorial Regional Hospital's Brain Attack initiative involves community education to help people understand the urgency of stroke symptoms and how to reduce the risk of stroke. "In our community, we have a high population of groups that are at risk for stroke. Hispanics, African-Americans and people over 65 years of age experience a higher incidence of stroke," says Arlina Le Roux, RN, BHA, and Director of Nursing, Ortho/Neuroscience and Rehab Services at Memorial Regional Hospital.
"We hope to educate the public through community education programs. We are partnering with area professionals, such as Emergency Medical Service personnel, Fire Departments, Police Departments and community service groups to improve awareness and patient outcomes," says Le Roux.
"We will encourage stroke prevention by making people aware of the symptoms and risk, and the preventive measures they can take to reduce the risk of stroke."
If you belong to a community service group or other organization and would like to schedule a stroke awareness presentation, call (954) 265-4110 .