Advances in Stroke Treatment: 24-Hour Brain Attack Team Delivers Potentially Life-Saving Care
Stroke Symptoms
The following are the most common symptoms of stroke. If any of these symptoms are present, call 911. Treatment is most effective when started immediately.
Symptoms may be sudden and include:
- Weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Confusion or difficulty speaking or understanding
- Problems with vision, such as dimness or loss of vision in one or both eyes
- Dizziness or problems with balance or coordination
- Severe headaches with no other known cause
Take action immediately if any of the warning signs, are present.
October 2006 — Recognizing stroke symptoms and quickly seeking medical attention are essential to getting the best treatment. This can be difficult, says Sharon Dixon, RN, BSN and Stroke Team Nurse Coordinator on staff at Memorial Regional Hospital, since many people don’t recognize stroke symptoms or realize there’s treatment that, if administered rapidly, can greatly diminish the disability caused by ischemic stroke. This is the type of stroke that occurs when a clot interrupts blood flow to the brain.
Memorial Regional Hospital and Memorial Hospital West were among the first South Florida hospitals designated as Primary Stroke Centers by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. When presented with stroke patients, round-the-clock Brain Attack Teams at both hospitals work quickly to determine the nature and severity of the stroke and treat the patient accordingly.
Time is essential, since tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), a powerful clot-buster introduced in 1996, reduces potential for permanent disability, but must be administered quickly. It can be delivered intravenously for up to three hours after symptom onset, or intra-arterially by a qualified interventional neuroradiologist for three to six hours after the first symptom appears.
Memorial’s Brain Attack Team includes neurologists, neurosurgeons, emergency department physicians, critical care intensivists, hospitalists and two interventional neuroradiologists, both of whom are also certified and trained to use the Merci Retriever, a corkscrew-like device approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004. Inserted into the brain through a microcatheter, this tiny instrument withdraws a clot lodged in a cerebral blood vessel, thus restoring blood flow to the brain.
Harvey Schwartz, MD, Medical Director of the Brain Attack Program at Memorial Regional Hospital, recalls a Palm Beach County woman who developed slurred speech, confusion and weakness on one side while lunching in Broward County. When she arrived by ambulance at Memorial Regional Hospital’s Emergency Department, the Brain Attack Team was alerted and a CT scan administered. Paul Ginsberg, MD, neurologist on the medical staff of Memorial Regional Hospital, Memorial Hospital West and Memorial Hospital Pembroke, determined a clot in her brain artery caused the stroke and called in Memorial Regional Hospital’s Hoang Duong, MD, Director of Interventional Neuroradiology, who effectively used the Merci Retriever to remove the clot.
Four days later, the patient recovered and left the hospital without suffering any neurological damage. Dr. Schwartz cites this as a prime example of stroke team success. “Our goal is to evaluate and treat patients with ischemic stroke using evidence-based procedures in a timely fashion to improve outcomes in our South Florida medical community,” he says.
If you are concerned about a your risk of stroke and would like a referral to a physician, please call Memorial Physician Referral Service toll-free at (800) 944-DOCS. We’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.