ET: Ischemic stroke treatment
A major ischemic stroke happens when a large artery to the brain becomes blocked by a blood clot. In the trial the researchers worked with 316 stroke victims who were brought in within 12 hours after suffering a stroke. Some were given the standard treatment for stroke while a test group was given the new technology.
It uses new high-tech equipment and imaging that enables doctors to insert a tube into an artery in the groin of the patient and from there, with the aid of X-ray imaging, maneuver the tube up to the brain. A removable stent is used to remove the clot through the blood vessels, completely restoring the flow of blood to the brain.
The process is called endovascular thrombectomy (ET) and the death rate from stroke victims treated with ET was half that from those that were not. The senior author of the study, Dr. Michael Hill, a professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, believes their treatment will go global.
“This is the most significant and fundamental change in acute ischemic stroke treatment in the last 20 years,” Dr. Hill said. “These results will impact stroke care around the world.”
Dr. Hill and others suggest that this treatment will become the standard of care for stroke patients.
Stroke victim: “A miracle”
CTV News in Canada spoke with a man, Basma Kholrussi, who underwent ET in August after his stroke. “It’s amazing. It’s a miracle. This kind of thing saved my life,” Mr. Kholrussi told CTV News. “No pain, no side effects, it’s like new. I’m new like before.”
The results have already been published in the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine and on March 19 will be published in the journal’s print publication.
