What should have been a routine outing for a 53-year-old Mumbai resident and his wife turned out to be one of the most harrowing experiences of his life. He suddenly had a severe stroke while out shopping, collapsing within seconds as the right side of his body went limp and his speech slurred. Fortunately, his wife, along with a few passersby, managed to rush him to Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital within 20 minutes – a rare occurrence in India, where very few stroke patients reach a hospital within the critical treatment window.The stroke was identified immediately, and a stent was placed in the artery to remove the blockage.According to doctors, reaching the hospital within the golden hours and receiving prompt treatment proved to be a “master stroke.” The patient’s symptoms resolved during the procedure itself, his life was saved from serious brain damage, and sensation and movement returned to the affected parts of his body.
Manish Upadhyay, a resident of the western suburbs, said, “I had some trouble in my shoulder, for which I was undergoing physiotherapy. After a physiotherapy session, I returned home and later went to Grant Road with my wife by car. Suddenly, one side of my body went numb and I collapsed.”People nearby rushed him to the hospital. Upon arrival, doctors stabilized him and immediately performed an MRI, which confirmed an ischemic stroke. Dr. Vipul Gupta, Director of the Neuro-Interventional Surgery Department, said, “It is very rare for a stroke patient to be brought to the hospital within the golden window and to have blood flow restored immediately by placing a stent in the brain’s main artery.” He added that, “Many people fail to reach the hospital in time, which often prevents full recovery. In this case, a layer within the wall of the main artery supplying blood to the brain had torn, allowing blood to seep between the layers and form a blockage, which caused the stroke. The most encouraging part was that during the intervention itself, the patient began to move, and by the next morning he was able to speak normally.“Dr. Manish Chhabria, Senior Consultant, Neurology at the hospital said , “The patient arrived with sudden weakness of his right upper and lower limb, right facial weakness and total inability to speak. The patient came to us within 20 minutes duration of these symptoms onset. We quickly assessed him clinically & then performed an MRI with Angio and diagnosed an ischemic stroke due to the blocked left carotid artery. We immediately gave him a clot-busting injection, and referred him to the Neurointerventional Surgery team, he was then taken to the cath lab where the blocked dissected artery was opened with a catheter, thrombectomy done & stents were placed. Thanks to this swift action by our entire team blood flow was restored and within a day, his hand & leg movements and speech began to improve in a day and the entire Neuro deficit resolved in next 2 days”.The entire procedure was completed in just 30 to 32 minutes. The improvement was immediate. The patient started moving his right leg during the procedure and regained near-normal speech by the next morning. A follow-up MRI before discharge showed that much of the initial damage had reversed – an uncommon outcome in major strokes
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