KOCHI: Stroke causes six times more death in people than Covid-19 do. But then, it’s hardly talked about. According to the Global Burden of Disease study, India reports 1.29 million new stroke cases annually. It is also the third-largest cause of deaths and disability in India, according to the study which was recently released.
“One in six of people carry the risk of facing stroke. So, we should be aware of the symptoms. It is crucial to remember that in select cases, stroke can be treated efficiently through intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomy with very good chances of recovery,” says dr Mounil Haq T P, consultant interventional neurologist at E M S Memorial Cooperative Hospital and Research Centre, Kerala.
One of the most critical factors to consider during stroke treatment is the time taken to get the affected person to a hospital.
Normally, doctors suggest the patients be brought to the hospital within 3.5 hours of symptoms surfacing. Moreover, the absence of standard treatment protocols and the lack of affordable treatment adds to the burden. Delay in seeking the right treatment leads to a loss of about 20 lakh brain cells per minute. This is where advanced technology and medical procedures like mechanical thrombectomy have displayed proven results and higher success rates. Not only doe they increase the treatment window to up to 24 hours, but the success rates are also considered to be one of the best.
What is Mechanical Thrombectomy
Mechanical Thrombectomy is a type of minimally-invasive procedure in which specialised medical devices such as stent retrievers and catheters are used to remove a clot from a patient’s artery in the brain. Using CathLab guidance, the doctor guides these devices through the patient’s arteries to the clot, extracting the clot.
But the technology is being adopted slowly. So far, only 10% of the 11,000 patients treated for acute ischemic stroke in India received mechanical thrombectomy as a treatment option. “Mechanical thrombectomy is very effective in revascularization, successful in almost 95 per cent cases and facilitates clinical recovery in 60 percent of patients,” Haq said.
Types of stroke
The most common type of stroke is ischemic, accounting for almost 87% of all cases across the country. It is caused by a clot or other blockage to a brain artery. The remaining 13% cases are hemorrhagic strokes which are caused by bleeding of an aneurysm in the brain artery. Medical experts and doctors largely attribute the high prevalence and morbidity rates to the lack of awareness amongst the general population along with limited exposure and knowledge about new technologies like Mechanical Thrombectomy to reduce the morbidity rates.