The Hindu : New Delhi News : Path-breaking treatment for stroke

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Path-breaking treatment for stroke

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JAN. 25. For the first time in India, doctors have successfully opened a blocked brain artery in the posterior circulation area by angioplasty and stenting. And with this successful operation called the intra-cranial stenting of vertibro basalar system, the doctors claim to have opened up a whole new area of treatment of brain stroke in patients.

A technically daunting task, the operation has been performed at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on a 63-year-old patient R.K. Mittal, a resident of Solan, who suffered a minor stroke an year ago.

Later the patient developed giddiness and imbalance while walking. Upon investigations it was found that of the two arteries (vertebral) at the back of the brain, one was completely blocked and another was partially blocked. "This required opening of the artery by angioplasty and stenting this part of the brain. But it is a difficult operation. One because of the lack of specific instruments to be used for the operation and also because it has never been tried before in India. The risk involved in the case is also very high. All these factors make the operation not just tedious but also difficult,'' explained consultant, neurologist and interventional neuro-radiologist at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Shakir Hussain.

Stroke is a major health problem which, according to doctors, is now seen in younger people. The condition is described as a sudden dysfunction in certain parts of the brain due to blockage in the blood supply to that part, resulting in paralysis on one side of the body, loss of speech, sudden loss of memory or vision, giddiness, imbalance or unconsciousness.

"The world over there are only 100 cases that have been successfully operated and for this patient the procedure had to be done on time or else he would have undergone a major stroke with high probability of fatality," explained Dr. Husain.

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