Brain Stroke – A serious illness striking younger people. There is a rise in stroke among the younger generation. This is because of pressure on the mind, sedentary lifestyle and hazardous habits. It was just a normal day until Divya (name changed), a 34-year-old software engineer from Bengaluru noticed tingling sensation on the right half of her body. She soon realised that she was unable to speak and was unable to explain the situation to her roommate. Realising that something was amiss, her roommates quickly brought her to hospital. As she arrived at the emergency room (ER) , after a quick examination by the ER team it was clear that Divya had all the symptoms and signs of a developing stroke or a “BRAIN ATTACK”.
In a rapid sequence after all her blood tests were sent off and she was rushed to the MRI suite where the clinical suspicion was proved right. MRI brain revealed an impending stroke where the main artery supply blood to the speech and language centres on the left side of the brain called the Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA) was blocked, with no flow forwards to the speech area which is a vital area.
Delay in this situation would mean a complete stroke for Divya and severe disability which would involve loss of speech and higher mental functions and a weak right side of her body. Fortunately modern medicine and science has come to the help of patients like Divya where the deadly consequences of the stroke can be prevented by clot busting or thrombolytic injections given intravenously or intra arterially.
Further if there is a visible block in a major artery supplying the brain due to a clot, these can be safely extracted using retrievers called “STENTRIEVERS” or aspirated (suck out) using pumps which lead to a better outcome.
Doctors performed the surgery where a small needle puncture was made in the right groin to access the femoral artery through which smaller catheters were successfully passed to get past the blocked artery in the left side of the brain. All this was done under X-ray control. Through the micro catheter a small basket like device called Stentriever was introduced past the blocked artery and after 2 passes the blocked artery was re-opened immediately. The final angiography pictures showed complete reopening of the blocked artery and restoration of normal blood flow within 
30 mins of the procedure.
BRAIN ATTACK or BRAIN STROKE is an absolute EMERGENCY and can strike anytime and anywhere. It is advised to rush to a nearby STROKE ready hospital without any delay. There is a rise in conditions such as stroke among the younger generation. The increasing pressure on the mind, sedentary lifestyle and adoption of hazardous habits as coping mechanisms are to blame for this.
Stroke is one of the illnesses where patients are rushed to faraway places mindlessly to receive non-scientific and irrational treatments and where valuable time and brain is lost. (1 million neurons or nerve cells die every delayed minute in the brain). A few hours later her weakness on the right side and the speech difficulty had improved completely. She continued to remain in the ICU overnight.
The next day, Divya was relieved to see her family and speak with them after they had arrived from Rajasthan. A CT scan was repeated to confirm the completeness of the procedure and the following day and she was discharged the next day, walking out of the hospital much to the delight of her family and friends.
In case a BRAIN STROKE does strike, immediate attention and rushing the patient to a well-equipped and stroke ready center is the key. In case of a Brain stroke TIME is vital.
Dr Swaroop Gopal
Neuroscience
