Scientists make huge breakthrough in stroke treatment, hailed as ‘game changer’

Scientists have made a potential breakthrough in the treatment of the most severe and disabling of strokes.

New research has found that many who suffer such strokes may be able to return to an independent life through a treatment that involves removing large blood clots blocking blood vessels within the brain, which would allow doctors to save brain tissue that would die otherwise, according to a New York Times report.

The study, which was produced in the Netherlands, was published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week. Doctors used a new type of snare — a small wire cage on the end of a catheter inserted through the groin and drawn through the artery all the way to the brain — to grab the clots. Once the tip reaches the clot, the stent is opened and gets pushed into the clot, snagging it and allowing the doctor to withdraw the stent with the clot.

Doctors heralded the discovery as a “game changer” that could revolutionize stroke treatment and improve the lives of untold numbers of patients who suffer from strokes. About 630,000 Americans get strokes each year due blood vessels in the brain that are blocked. A large portion of these have blockages in a large vessel, which can lead to permanent disabilities for many who suffer them. These blockages can’t be treated like smaller clots, which can simply be prescribed a drug that dissolves them.

http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/scientists-make-huge-breakthrough-in-stroke-treatment-hailed-as-game-changer/