Page 11 - Seniors Today - Oct 2019

if there is hemorrhage due to bursting of a blood
vessel. If there is no haemorrhage, then an MRI
is required to be performed immediately as it is
very sensitive in demonstration of brain damage
due to reduced blood supply.
The MRI will in the first minute itself tell
conclusively if there is a stroke and the extent
of damage. Once this is determined, the blood
vessels are imaged, a process known as MR
angiography. This maps the blood vessels from
the heart to the minute vessels in the brain.
This also does not require any dye, and takes
about ten minutes. Care should be taken that
the patient does not have a pacemaker as this
is a contraindication for MRI. The MRI will
demonstrate the extent of brain damage, as
well as also if a major vessel is blocked. These
pieces of information are very important in
Ischemic stroke - MRI shows area of brain damage due to
blocked artery as white area determining the treatment. If there is no major
of a stroke (within eight hours of stroke onset). blockage of the vessels and no haemorrhage or
After the thrombus removal by Dr Nishant contraindications, a clot-busting drug known
Aditya, Neuro Interventionist at the Breach as Alteplase r-tPA is given intravenously. This
Candy Hospital, robust blood flow to brain is works by dissolving the clot and improving
restored. blood flow.
Within 24 hours he recovered completely. His It must be administered within three hours
speech, left side power and balance returned to
normal. On the sixth day, he went back home
and the Mehtas resumed their itinerary.
Says Mr Mehta: “It was a life-changing
experience. With urgent and diligent care by the
team of doctors at Breach Candy, I was able to
resume my social and business life in 10 days.
Without this effort I would have lost my active
life. Thank you again, doctors!”

Dramatic Changes in Diagnosis
Recent advances in diagnosis and therapeutics
of stroke over the last decade have dramatically
changed the outcome and survival of stroke
patients. To determine the appropriate
treatment, the type of stroke has to be
determined as well as the regions of the brain
affected and the extent of damage. The best
initial modality is a CT Scan.
This a computerised X-ray machine which will
quickly scan your brain under a minute. All the
patient has to do is lie down on the table; there is Blocked artery in neck with mechanical thrombectomy-
no dye injection required. The CT scan will tell Angiogram shows narrowed vessel

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