Times of India
14 August 2010
Bangalore, India

Now even stroke patients can get temporary endovascular bypass done if they get medical help within the first few precious hours.

For the first time in India, a temporary endovascular bypass therapy was conducted on a 30–year–old stroke patient recently in Bangalore.

The lady who had rheumatic heart disease (Mitral Stenosis) suffered a stroke, and developed weakness in her left hand and leg, and difficulty in speaking. She came to Narayana Hrudayalaya Multi–Specialty Hospital within three–and–half hours. Imaging showed her right artery to the brain was blocked.

She was immediately taken to the cath–lab for thrombolysis. "We tried drug thrombolysis but the artery did not open. So we used a retrievable self–expandable stent to retrieve the clot and act like temporary endovascular bypass. Once it was opened, the stent was removed. When the patient was out of general anaesthesia she was able to speak and walk on her own," said consultant interventional neurologist at Narayana Hrudayalaya Institute of Neurosciences, Dr Vikram Huded.

According to the hospital, this is perhaps the first case in India where temporary endovascular bypass therapy has been used in a patient with stroke.

Immediate Medicare Can Save A Life
Stroke is a treatable condition and it is important that the patient reaches a hospital at the earliest. In Bangalore, approximately 40 patients develop stroke every day. You can identify a stroke if a person has, weakness in limbs, difficulty in speaking, loss of vision, imbalance, decreased sensation, double vision, severe headache and vomiting, loss of consciousness and epileptic fits.