MT is a procedure similar to emergency angioplasty, where in a catheter is inserted into a major blood vessel within the thigh or wrist, navigated to the brain to remove the clot blocking vessels
Strokes due to large vessel occlusion or blockages in the brain constitute up to 30% of all acute ischaemic strokes. These strokes in large vessels are responsible for a significant proportion of permanent stroke-related disability.
If till recently, the focus of all emergency stroke-related interventions were clot-busting therapy or thrombolysis, only a fraction of patients who reach hospitals within the critical window period of 4-4.5 hours were eligible for this therapy.
On this World Stroke Day, neurologists are shifting the focus to Mechanical Thrombectomy (MT) for treating strokes in large vessels, which is deemed safer, effective and capable of removing clots up to 90%, if performed within 24 hours.
MT is a procedure similar to emergency angioplasty, where in a catheter is inserted into a major blood vessel within the thigh or wrist, navigated to the brain to remove the clot blocking vessels. This can be done by trained clinicians in hospitals with cath lab facilities.
White paper
Health Minister Veena George on Friday, the World Stroke Day, released a white paper, Mission Thrombectomy, a global document prepared by the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurologists (SVIN), as part of a campaign to promote the use of and access to MT to treat acute ischaemic stroke events.
The document, prepared for the region, had been released at the national level by V.K. Paul, member NITI Aayog.
According to SVIN, MT can reduce the rate of neurological disability significantly by 40-60% as long as the patients (select patients as per guidelines) are treated rapidly within 24 hours.
Ms. George also released a banner, jointly brought out by the State Health Department and the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, on stroke awareness for the general public.
P. N. Sylaja, Professor of Neurology, SCTIMST, and Global Co-Chair for Mission Thrombectomy, Thomas Iype, Head of Neurology, Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College, and Suresh Chandran, Secretary, Kerala Neurologists’ Association, were present during the occasion.
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