In brain stroke rushing stroke ready hospital must to undo damage to brain; expert

Ludhiana, January 12, 2024: As many as 30 doctors from Khanna, Doraha, Samarala & Mandigobindgarh attended a CME on ‘advances in neuro intervention’ at Khanna today.

Addressing the CME, Dr Vineet Saggar, director neurosurgery at Ivy Hospital Mohali  said that stroke is emerging as the new epidemic in India with 1.5 to 2.0 million new stroke cases being reported across the country every year.
He said that the actual numbers are bound to be higher as many of these patients never reach health care facilities.

“Every day around 3000-4000 strokes happen in India and not more than 2-3% are treated. Worldwide incidence rate of stroke in 60-100 cases per 100,000 population per year, whereas in India it is close to 145-145 cases per 100,000/year,”

Dr Saggar further informed that the reason for increased incidence in India is lack of awareness about the disease per se and the methods of prevention.
Stokes are responsible for more deaths annually than those attributed to AIDS, TB and malaria combined and yet it remains a silent epidemic, he pointed out.

He further said that with a new mechanical thrombectomy technique the stroke can be treated  in selected cases till 24 hours. In this technique the clot is either aspirated or taken out of the brain with the help of a stent without opening the brain. Recently the American Stroke Association has also modified its guidelines and has recommended mechanical thrombectomy treatment for stroke patients, he mainlined.

It is also very important to be aware about the hospitals which can offer these treatments. Merely reaching the hospitals is not enough, one needs to reach a stroke ready hospital, he asserted.

The important thing about stroke is that time is of essence. Every second following a stroke, 32,000 brain cells die. So patients should be rushed at the earliest to the nearest stroke treatment centre.  The timely treatment can help them prevent the same from occurring, he explained.

Many times if a hematoma is formed ,which leads to increased pressure in the brain or the stroke is big enough, the surgeon has to perform neuro surgery to decompress the brain or salvage the dead portion of brain to save the life of the patient . For a hospital to have comprehensive stroke care, multidisciplinary team including emergency physicians, neurologists, interventional neuro-radiologists, neurosurgeons, anaesthetists and critical care physicians is must, Dr Saggar maintained.