‘Paralysis avoidable in stroke patients’

Services free of charge for patients who cannot afford it

RAWALPINDI:

Dr Asif, a renowned cardiologist at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology (RIC), has said body paralysis can be avoided if the patient is shifted to hospital for treatment within two to five hours after suffering a stroke.

“If anyone suffers a paralysis attack, the patient must be shifted to the hospital within two to three hours as body paralysis can be prevented through initiating the latest treatment and techniques,” he told APP. In addition to 24/7 primary PCI for STEMI (emergency angioplasty for heart attack), he said the institute had now started round-the-clock acute ischemic stroke intervention including TPA (clot bursting medicine) and mechanical thrombectomy (emergency blood clot removal from brain and neck arteries).

He said both services were free of charge for patients who cannot afford it, adding stroke cases not fulfilling selection criteria for mechanical thrombectomy as per international guidelines, were being referred to nearby neurology setups for medical management.

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According to Inside View, an online health service provider, mechanical thrombectomy is a type of minimally-invasive procedure in which an interventional radiologist uses specialised equipment to remove a clot from a patient's artery. Using fluoroscopy, or continuous x-ray, the doctor guides instruments through the patient's arteries to the clot, extracting the clot all at once.

The radiologist starts the procedure by making a small incision in either the wrist or the abdomen, giving them access to an artery. After making the incision, the doctor threads a catheter through the artery to the clot. Next, they insert a tiny net-like device called a stent retriever into the catheter and guide it to the blockage. They then push the stent retriever through the clot.

After the stent retriever is through, it expands to the size of the artery wall. At this point, the stent retriever has captured the clot, and the doctor is able to pull it out backwards, removing the clot entirely.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2021.