Chennai, 24th February 2015: Impact of brain stroke can be completely reversed if the right treatment is given at the right time. The story of this teenage boy says it all. Struck by the acute brain stroke, he does not have a trace of it after a timely Neurointervention procedure at Global Health City. Now, he is on his own and the fear of him getting disabled got completely erased from the minds of his parents.

Mr. Vamshi Krishna is a 16-year-old school going student. Like many at his age, Vamshi likes to play volley ball the sport in which he had championed. On 7th February, Vamshi’s life turned upside down when he started feeling paralysed on his left side of body, his speech was slurred and his face was drooped on one side. Realizing the seriousness of the problem, his family took him to the nearby hospital where he underwent MRI Scan. The investigation revealed that one part of his brain lacked blood supply. Subsequently, he was referred to Global Health City for further treatment.

Dr. Joy Varghese - Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon & Neurointervention Specialist at Global Health City said “upon his arrival at our emergency ward, our stroke team immediately swung into action. We wanted to check whether first there was any hemorrhage in his brain by doing a CT scan. Once we ruled out the brain hemorrhage, he was taken to Cath lab for Brain Angiography (DSA) to analyze the blood vessels and the flow of blood”.

“The DSA showed the complete occlusion of the main blood vessel to the brain on the right side, internal carotid artery. We immediately performed Mechanical Thrombectomy to remove the blood clots. His condition started getting better after the procedure. Two days after the procedure, his condition was completely reversed and he is now ready to attend school without having any trace of the stroke”, further added Dr. Joy Varghese.

Commenting on the occasion, Dr. Anil P Karapurkar from Mumbai who came to chair the Global Neuro Update earlier today said “Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in India. The two primary reasons are low awareness level among the public and non-availability of comprehensive stroke units at accessible distance. While administration of Intravenous thrombolytic drug within 4.5 hours of onset of stroke symptoms is good, this alone may not save all the victims. It is always advisable to check the nature of occlusion and very often intervention or endovascular procedures give us very good results”.

Emphasizing on Dr. Anil P Karapurkar’s points, Dr. K. Sridhar – Director Institute of Neurosciences & Spinal Disorders at Global Health City said “Various studies across the globe show that timely IVT therapy saves only about 30% of all stroke victims. On the other hand, IVT therapy followed by Neuro intervention procedure doubles the chances of stroke reversal: about 65% of stroke victims can be saved. Precisely that has happened in this boy’s case. Right diagnosis and timely treatment reversed his conditions, and now he is on his own”.

Adding further on the occasion, Dr. K. Sridhar highlighted that “One of the key differentiators of Stroke Unit at Global Health City is that it is truly comprehensive as it comprises of round-the-clock Stroke Neurologist, Stroke Interventionist, Stroke nurses, and Neurosurgeon.

Not only we have the most active and structured Stroke Intervention Programme in the city; but we also emphasise on prevention through Global Stroke Prevention Clinic which offers assistance to people at risk of having a stroke and ongoing care for those who have already experienced a stroke to prevent this happening again”.

About Brain Stroke
Stroke is a sudden loss of brain function caused by the interruption of the flow of blood to the brain. The lack of blood flow causes the brain cells in the affected area to die. Being one of the leading causes of death and disability, the impact of stroke goes beyond the victim. Also, it is estimated that about 40% of youth population in India is at higher risk of stroke and number of death is expected to be doubled by 2030.

Global Centre for Stroke Intervention
Touted to be one of the most active and city’s only structured Stroke Intervention programme, this centre is spearheaded by the qualified Neuro intervention specialist and is ably supported by the Stroke Neurologists, Neurosurgeons and other medical professionals trained to handle stroke victims. Beyond the human resources, the centre functions round-the-clock and comes well equipped with state-of-the-art Cath Lab to provide the following services on time – Brain Angiogram (DSA), Carotid Stenting, mechanical Thrombectomy, Brain Vessel Stenting, Brain Vessel Balloon Angioplasty, Aneurysm Coiling, Embolisation of AVM, and Head & Neck Tumor Embolisation.